nimiru

I think what I would do to reform our prison system is to start all over. What we have now does nothing but puke out criminals that are probably worse than they were than before they went in. I would institute a humanizing approach that would offer men and women a good chance of rehabilitation. I know that sounds unlikely but I think if done properly anyone can be helped, given a chance. Well almost anyone. A good staff of psychologists to properly diagnose people with real mental trouble could be recognized and given the help they need rather than left to progress into the depths of despair and destitution that the present prison system relegates them to. Prison should not only be for punishment but also for rehabilitation as is claimed. We can't expect to treat them like animals while they are in the system and then expect them to be model citizens when they are released. It's time for us to wake up and realize that as a society that there are certain responsibilities that are inherit and and that includes caring for those that don't meet the expectations of society. We can't keep on shitting on those that don't and hope for the best as this won't work. There will always be people that will be on the wrong side of the law and it will be for any number of reasons and it could happen to anyone. No one is immune as you never know what life can deal you. It's easy to think otherwise but that's not the way life is. Just because life is good for you right now doesn't mean it can't turn around and bite you in the butt. I'm open for any suggestions.

Like the Pope years ago prevented Copernicus and Galileo from their work Harper seems bent on the same thing. All because it's not profitable, not to mention detrimental to profit. I have to wonder when he will wake up to the fact that not everything is about money and the economy. We have to look after this planet as it has limited resources and a burgeoning population. We are at a tipping point in time and now it is important to listen to these so called wastes of tax payers money ( scientists) and do what is right. Science has got us to where we are and now we want to disregard their opinion because it's not profitable is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. At least since the last thing Toews said. It's time to stop thinking only about your own personal needs and think about the bigger picture and what's good for everyone. If you can do that you're the better person for it.

Do you think that Cheney and his ideas are the way to go. Since when does a prison system need or should be a profit making endeavor. It only opens it up for another form of abuse. Look south to see what can and will go wrong and maybe that will finally open your eyes if nothing else helps. You conservatives seem to think that everything comes down to the almighty buck and that's what's wrong with your philosophy and that's the reason we have to get Harper and his minions the hell out of Ottawa and someone with some sense in power. Let me see if I get you, if prisons are profitable then the more people we imprison the more money we make. That sounds STUPID. Do we repeal human rights at the prison doors once they are privatized. When do you think it will be important to consider peoples basic human rights as opposed to the need to make a dollar? Some how I think you won't. Do we put the prisons on the stock market too so everyone can get in on it? If profits are down we can cut back on medical care and meals etc. The possibilities are endless and ripe for abuse. You seem to be a true capitalist tried and true. Anyone who takes offense to this bring on. Just look at the States they have 5% of the worlds population and yet they hold 25% of the worlds inmates. Money in the bank. Good going boys!!!!

I think that the gov. is probably heading in wrong direction with this plan. One only has to look back to the Soviet block countries and Fascist countries of the 20th century to see governments going awry. As others have pointed out it is very unlikely that anyone would be talking about a terrorist plot in a public place in the first place so what exactly does Toews imagine the gov. will pick up with listening devices anyway? This could be viewed as another step down a slippery slope to a big brother society all in the name of national security and public safety. In some warped form of logic the terrorist oranizations around the globe might view these loss of personal rights and freedoms as a win for themselves.

Not following the guidelines set up for these sort of things. Makes me wonder just what you find acceptable in a government. If this sort of action is alright with you just about anything they think up should do. That's scary don't you think?

I'm not saying we shouldn't have replacement planes I'm just not sure we need these ones. We shouldn't be trying to be in a role similar to the US as we haven't the resources to play that game. We are better suited to be the peace keepers we were once recognized as. Maybe we should worry more about protecting our northern shores as that seems to be a more immediate threat to us at the moment. Civil wars are a far different thing from the wars Canada has proudly served in, in the past, and requires a far different approach.

Like hell we need them. We had a great tradition of peace keeping and the present gov. seems hell bent on ruining that. We don't have the resources to be a factor in any major conflicts. Prime Minister Pearson set us on the right track many years ago and we seem to have lost our way in recent years. We were once looked up to throughout the world for our efforts in the peace keeping role we were involved in and we should get back to this. We only have to look south of the border to how the US is spreading peace and freedom around the globe to see that it doesn't wash to know that we don't need to have any part of it. We would be better off spending our tax dollars protecting our northern areas from environmental problems that may be coming from the opening of the arctic water ways than sticking our noses into areas we traditionally kept out of.