Anti Gang Legislation

Harper met with local victims of crime and held a press conference about his introduction of anti gang legislation February 2009. He used Eileen Mohan as a human shield and double dared the opposition to oppose it given the public outcry during the Vancouver gang war.

Although I am cynical of all the political parties exploiting our misfortune, something needs to be done. After the meeting Steve Brown expressed frustration with the enormity of the task stating it's hard to know where to begin. Yet at another rally he spoke very clearly on what needs to be done. Judicial reform.

Eileen Mohan is right. We need to change the legislation and introduce mandatory minimum sentences that will bind the judges. Steve Brown is also right. Judges in BC make judgements that differ from the rest of Canada on the same existing federal legislation. Minimum mandatory sentences for violent crime is one step, making our bad judges accountable is another.

We have anti criminal organization legislation in place. The judges in BC will not enforce it due to corruption or stupidity. Those are the only two possible motives we are left with. Ontario and Quebec have a huge list of drug convictions for the Hells Angels. That has become their primary business. In BC if someone is caught selling cocaine for the Hells Angels they get house arrest. In Ontario they do real time because they are selling it on behalf of a criminal organization.

As a result those provinces have successfully applied their anti criminal organization legislation to the Hells Angels and every time they commit a criminal offence. BC has failed to do this. Part of the problem is Peter Leask a defense attorney who helped pedophiles get off. He was appointed by Paul Martin's government.

Yet Peter Leask is not the only bad judge here. They all think they are above the law and untouchable. The BC judges have absolutely no public accountability. Perhaps following the US model and electing judges would be a solution. Right now there is no mechanism in place to fire a bad judge.

When the courts hear that a convicted murder was hired by the Hells Angels to commit murder and that he knows another murder who has been hired to commit many murders for the East Vancouver Hells Angels and the court does nothing to the East Vancouver Hells Angels as a criminal organization, then those judges should be replaced. That testimony is an automatic criminal organization legislation case.

Mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime yes. Not for pot. We don't have to legalize pot but we shouldn't impose mandatory minimum sentences for the possession of pot. Mandatory minimum sentences for swarming or other acts of violence as well as for selling hard drugs like crack, meth or date rape drug. We need to draw a line between pot and crack and we need to increase the consequences for selling those drugs not for being addicted to those drugs.

Minimum sentences for drive by shootings is important. Drive by shootings put the public at risk. Not all gang related murders should be first degree murder but any gang related murder that puts the public at risk or injures a member of the public clearly should be first degree murder. We need to follow the legislation and take the amendment so it will pass.