Prime Time Crime
(Published in the Similkameen Spotlight week of June 6, 2005)
By
John Martin
Apparently the Ontario government had little hesitation or problem invoking Section 810.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada in order to impose more than a dozen extraordinary conditions on Karla Homolka upon her release. Is this provision of the Criminal Code hidden in the fine print? How come authorities have always assured us there’s nothing they can do to protect the community once a person has served their time? Is sweet little Karla the first inmate to be released who is a high risk to reoffend?
And how is that somehow the deportation process is apparently unworkable yet we seem to be moving along quite smoothly in the case of Bahadur Singh Bhalru? He’s one of the two losers that killed Irene Thorpe during a high speed street race. The Federal Court just denied his appeal of a deportation order and he’s now a step closer to being sent back to India. He remains unremorseful and is best known for laughing at the television cameras on his way to court during his trial. He surely deserves to be kicked out of the country. But he’s hardly the worst immigrant to come here and commit a serious offence. Why are other killers, gangsters, drug dealers and dirt bags that refuse to follow our rules permitted to stay?
Notice the Vancouver Police Department is being savaged in the press for allegedly conspiring to protect one another, stonewalling investigations, misleading investigators and altering documents. Heads are rolling as we speak. Meanwhile, the exact same thing, albeit on a much larger scale is happening with the Liberal Party of Canada and most media outlets, especially the CBC and The Globe and Mail, are defending them. Sheeeesh!
Hey, here’s one for the “I told them so” department.
The day the media went gaga that a young Sikh male was attacked by five white guys, beat up, robbed, had his turban ripped off and his hair cut, I assured my colleagues he made the story up. His tale was improbable from the start and had all the trappings of a hoax. But given that the kid could put a story like that together and pull it off with a straight face I fully expect for him to be running for the Paul Martin team in 2009.
Oh yes, one co-worker was so impressed with my prediction he asked me if Michael Jackson is going to jail.
I’m not sure on that one. But if he is, watch for his lawyer to argue he should be sent to a youth wilderness detention facility.
John Martin is a Criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley and can be contacted at John.Martin@ucfv.ca