(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
Nov. 15, 2000)
Gangsters free to roam in Canada
By Leo Knight
FRIDAY'S
W5 show presented an interview with former Sicilian
Mafiosi, Francisco deCarlo, who painted a picture of lenient
laws, prison play pens and overworked, under-funded police
organizations as the reason Canada is the destination of choice
for many of the world's most powerful gangsters.
The
message is not new, but it was interesting to hear a high-level
gangster admit it publicly. What was also interesting was the
prime minister's response to the comments and the show.
"We
passed a law on these problems," Jean Chrétien said, as if
that was all that was needed. But, Le 'tit Jean couldn't let the
stupidity rest at that.
He
had to continue, "We changed the laws, for example, for
those who belonged to organized crime that it is more strict for
them for parole and so on. I can go through a long list,"
bragged the PM.
He
then went on to stress that his government had given an
additional $500 million to the RCMP to "fight organized
crime."
One
hardly knows where to begin to show what a bunch of horse crap
these statements by Chrétien really are. But, horse crap they
are.
Let's
start with the $500 million. Last year, an independent audit was
done of the national operations of the RCMP by a major national
accounting firm hired by the government. The report recommended
the Liberals must provide over $540 million in additional annual
funding just to restore the force to "minimally acceptable
levels." Chrétien shorted the RCMP by over $40 million
then claimed the money was given to the fight against organized
crime.
Much
of the money was eaten up in the previously negotiated wage
increases for the RCMP which had its wages frozen for six of the
seven years of Chrétien government. A large segment went to
recruiting and training new members of the force to fill the
nearly 500-member shortfall, courtesy of the same Liberal
government. So much for putting $500 million into the fight
against organized crime.
The
"laws passed," Chrétien referred to were amendments
to the money-laundering legislation forcing financial
institutions to report suspicious transactions -- something
every other country in the G-7 has had for years and have been
clamouring for Canada to enact. The only other law was the
so-called "anti-gang" legislation, C-95, which to date
has yet to yield a single successful prosecution.
Bragging
that he has "... changed the laws, for example, for those
who belong to organized crime that it is more strict for them
for parole," is such utter claptrap it defies logic that
any politician would try and defend this as a good example of
his record in the fight against organized crime.
There
is not a major criminal organization in the world that does not
have significant operations in Canada today. Many criminal
leaders have sought and obtained refuge in this country. They
control their global empires from within the confines of our
nation and the prime minister says "we have passed a law on
these problems," and shrugs the criticism off.
Consider
this quote from Superintendent Ben Soave, the RCMP officer who
leads the joint forces operations in Ontario and the man
responsible for taking down the leadership of the Cuntrera/
Caruana organization in Toronto last year: "Canada is
heaven for Mafiosi of every sort," said Soave. "The
laws we have, far from scaring them away, encourage criminals to
come to Canada."
The
mobsters and the police agree. But not the prime minister. He
shrugs and says the problem is solved because they have passed
laws and made it stricter for organized criminals on parole.
Complacent,
complicit or incompetent, that is the real Liberal record on
organized crime. It is for you to decide which.
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