No surprise in lack of success in OC war

The revelation by RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli that we are not being effective in the fight against organized crime should not come as a surprise to anyone.

When Zaccardelli rose to the position as the top cop in the country, his first message was that organized crime was the biggest threat to Canada. At the time, in September 2000, Zaccardelli astonished the assembled media at his first press conference when he said: " For the first time in this country, we are seeing signs of criminal organizations that are so sophisticated that they are focusing on destabilizing certain aspects of our society."

"There are criminal organizations that target the destabilization of our parliamentary system," Zaccardelli said to the astonished press corps.

Not that they should have been astonished given things like Project Sidewinder and the obvious cover-up by the Liberals to ensure the country stayed ignorant of the threat and their failure to act upon it. For the record, the Libs denied any cover-up and then underlined that with a whitewash by the civilian oversight body SIRC. But, that's a little like believing neither the Prime Minister nor the Finance Minister knew anything about the Sponsership scandal. And to quote LBJ, that dog won't hunt.

But however zealous "Zack" may have been coming out of the gate, he was quickly educated in just how political his office has become. With the ink barely dry on the newspapers reporting his comments, Zaccardelli was summoned onto the Prime Minister's lush carpet and put in his place. My sources tell me he was kept waiting outside the office for a lengthy period of time like a naughty schoolboy waiting outside the principal's office.

Whatever direction he wanted to take the fight against organized crime he was stymied by a corrupt political party that would never allow the Force to take the gloves off. Sure, the RCMP achieved some successes. But organized crime in this country is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Any real success can only be achieved with a very, very large financial committment and the balls to say "Go get 'em."

And the Liberals were to busy stealing our money to let the Mounties have any of it to go after the bikers, gangsters and triads in any meaningful way.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Biker bust reveals truth

The arrest on the Friday of Hells Angel Villy Roy Lynnerup, 41, at Vancouver International Airport is yet another example that the bikers are anything but good ol' boys who like to party hard and ride Harleys.

Allegedly, Lynnerup was inexplicably carrying a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage right next to his colours depicting him as a full-patch member of the White Rock chapter of the world's biggest biker gang when he was trying to board a plane to Edmonton.

How he thought he'd get the gun through airport security is a whole other question.

But Lynnerup is not just another biker. Police believe he is the Sergeant at Arms, a senior position in every Hells Angel chapter, for the White Rock chapter. Sources say he was carrying notes from Hells Angels officers meetings in the bag as well, leading them to speculate that he was heading to a high level meeting with other senior members of the club.

The Hells Angels have long maintained they are not a criminal organization. Their propaganda machine fuelled by their charitable toy runs and the like. But, even though the police have had only limited success in breaking up their criminal networks, taking a gun to a high level meeting certainly seems to tell a different story.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Cops do it right despite criticism

In the week since Graham McMynn was abducted the Vancouver Police threw every resource possible at the investigation. The stated “24” investigators working on the case cited in the media reports was thrown out by police as a number, but was no indicator of the actual police resources utilized in this very challenging investigation.

A hint of what really went on came on Wednesday morning when over 100 officers mustered in a Vancouver armoury to get briefed on the plan to rescue the young man.

During that week as well, the police were hampered in their efforts by some elements of the broadcast news media who simply would not do as they were asked and refused to “blackout” the story so the police could do their job. With a kidnap victim’s life hanging in the balance, one has to question the judgment in those newsrooms.

But the story that really stuck in my craw was the piece done by CTV’s Lisa Rossington when she “tracked down” the rental car used by the kidnappers to abduct McMynn.

Rossington spoke to someone in the car lot office who said the police had not contacted them, implying that somehow the police were incompetent.

Given that the girlfriend of the victim was present at the time of the abduction and was the one who gave them the information about the vehicle, did Rossington really believe that the police wouldn’t have followed up on their only solid lead from the get-go? It strains credulity well past the breaking point to even contemplate such a notion a week into the kidnapping.

And, let’s face it, saying that on the six o’clock news sends an entirely contradictory message to the kidnappers than what the police and the family were trying to get out which was to get the kidnappers to make contact. And in this, she placed McMynn’s life in further danger.

The Vancouver Police proved all the doubters and armchair quarterbacks wrong. They conducted an effective, successful investigation in the most trying of circumstances in the desperate attempt to save an innocent life.

The media and the police both have their role to play in a democratic society. Those roles need not always be at odds with each other. Especially when lives are at stake.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Irresponsible media hamper police investigation

The media attention on the kidnapping case of a young Vancouver man has been like nothing I’ve ever seen in this type of case. It may also have harmed the police investigation and made it much more difficult for the police to bring about a safe, successful resolution.

Late Tuesday morning, Graham McMynn, 23, a UBC student, was snatched off a street in broad daylight by armed Asian gunmen, leaving his distraught girlfriend screaming for help on the street. By early afternoon CTV news had a microwave truck positioned outside the McMynn home. A news crew from Global was on the scene as well, but they chose to be much more discreet.

In short order radio station CKNW were broadcasting news of the kidnapping, admittedly with few details.

Police asked that the media sit on the story knowing full-well that in kidnapping cases their ability to control the information known to those responsible is critical.

That evening, the debate raged in newsrooms throughout Vancouver, whether to go with the story or not. Responsible newsrooms like BCTV on Global, CBC and The Province made the right decision.

CITY TV decided not to go with the story on their six o’clock broadcast, but had a reporter ready to do a “live hit” if the other stations went with it. CTV ignored the pleas from the police and led with the story so CITY did their live hit ten minutes into the newscast.

With the actions of CTV, the damage was done. The next day all the other media outlets were in overdrive with coverage of the scant details and clamouring for more. That afternoon, VPD held a press conference to try and quell the coverage

Two days later with coverage of the story now abounding, the family put out an emotional plea to encourage the kidnappers to make contact. It appears as though the barrage of media coverage gave them cold feet.

How this will end up is anyone’s guess. The Vancouver police are throwing every possible resource at the investigation. But without contact from the kidnappers their ability to negotiate a settlement is severely hampered.

While I don’t know the motives for this kidnapping, it has all the hallmarks of a kidnapping for ransom case. Indeed, elements of Asian organized crime use kidnapping of wealthy people as a significant revenue source in their day-to-day illicit activities. Most you never hear about, or you hear about after the fact, when the case has been successfully concluded.

Typically, the gangsters contact the family of the victim in short order making a ransom demand and tell them not to involve the police. Equally, the police use a media blackout to reinforce the idea that the kidnappers and the family are negotiating a “business transaction.”

It seems highly likely that the broadcast media coverage of this event has derailed the plans, however misguided, of the kidnappers. One can only hope that tragedy will not be the result.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

When is an investigation not an investigation

So, what’s with the RCMP saying they are investigating the sinking of the Queen of the North one day and then getting all wussy about it the next?

Yesterday, The Province reported they had begun an investigation into the sinking. Reporter Matthew Ramsay quoted Sgt. Ken Burton saying, “The RCMP is running a parallel and concurrent investigation. We are exploring all the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate event.”

Sounds pretty unequivocal to me. But then the day the story appears, BC Ferries boss David Hahn denies any such thing and calls the story “reckless” and RCMP media flak Sgt. John Ward says they are only at the stage of determining whether they will do an investigation.

But, when asked if the Province story was wrong, Ward had this to say: “I don’t think you were wrong. I don’t think Burton was wrong.”

So, which is it? Is the RCMP back-pedalling because Hahn didn’t like the inference that someone at Ferries had done something criminal that led to the ferry sinking and the apparent loss of two lives?

While we can’t discount the possibility of some type of equipment failure, it seems pretty clear to me that the tragedy was likely the result of either human error or human misconduct. The first would not be criminal, the second would. With a boat on the bottom and two people missing and presumed drowned, if there is a possibility of criminal behaviour being the cause, the RCMP are duty-bound to investigate regardless of what David Hahn thinks.

This is no different than any other type of sudden death investigation in that end. The police investigate and make a determination. If that determination is criminal in nature then the process follows that line. If not, then the matter is closed from a police point of view.

And let’s be clear about this. The ship struck a rock in a channel that it has been sailing through for decades. How did that happen? Because whatever the answer to that question is, is directly responsible for the deaths of two people.

And that is a police matter.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Justice denied for innocent cop

The case of former RCMP Constable John Hudak is more than a little troubling.

Hudak’s story, called Branded for Life was told on CTV’s  W5 . Hudak was a small-town cop, a Mountie involved in his community who was accused of sexual assault by a local nurse, Mildred Johnson, 58.

By all accounts it would appear as though the investigation was botched early on and in reality, it should have clearly determined that the complainant was either wrong, or more accurately, deliberate in a false accusation of a man who had spurned her attentions.

Hell hath no fury and all that, but this case literally screams out that the man in this case is clearly not the predator and the woman clearly is. Unfortunately, all too often the system is too politically correct to get its head around that concept.

Any allegation of a sex assault should be treated seriously. But, as any investigator of sex crimes will tell you, the majority of complaints they get are unfounded or vindictive. That’s not a popular statement but it is very accurate.

As much as the ultra-feminist movement would have us believe that men are evil predators, the reality is that women are by far and away, more dangerous in the way they use the public perception to gain either an advantage or vengeance.

While this certainly doesn’t pretend that some men aren’t sexual predators, it also doesn’t automatically assume the woman making the complaint is telling the truth. In point of fact, as I said, the majority of complaints made to police are either unfounded or untruthful.

And that is what is truly puzzling about the Hudak case. The woman involved has a history of making unfounded allegations of this nature. Yet the RCMP apparently never checked the woman’s background. Why not?

Equally, DNA evidence seized form Johnson’s couch proved to be a mixed sample and the male portion was not from Hudak. And, in the course of the investigation, Hudak took a polygraph which concluded that he was telling the truth.

Hudak’s detachment commander protested in vain to the Mountie brass that they were prosecuting an innocent man. Yet, the prosecution soldiered on.

Hudak was ultimately acquitted in a courtroom he should have never been in except as a witness in the mischief case against Mildred Johnson, a prosecution that will likely never occur.

But Hudak will always have the label ‘sex offender” attached to him even though he was acquitted.  Once accused of that sort of crime, the stigma is always there.

Why was Hudak charged when there was essentially no evidence against him and a mountain of evidence to indicate Mildred Johnson was fabricating the allegation?

Most likely it was simply because he was a cop. And this is something that has always bothered me.

It is true that the police must be held to a higher standard and as such, they must be purer than Caesar’s wife.  But, they should also not subject to a prosecution when the evidence doesn’t support it.

It takes balls for a police chief or other senior police management to stand up and back their members publicly when it is the right thing to do. And I’m not talking about covering up inappropriate behaviour as we have seen more often than I’d care to admit.

No, I’m talking about doing the right thing when it is appropriate. And it is just that testicular fortitude that was missing in the senior management of the RCMP in the Hudak case.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Harper's bold moves show promise

Despite the incessant whining from the lib/left, and I include the bulk of the mainstream media in this, I think newly-minted Prime Minister Stephen Harper is off to a pretty good start.

He made some moves in the wake of the election of his minority government that will serve to unite the centre-right of the country politically and at least give his Conservatives the chance to be more than a political flash-in-the-pan.

Harper knows that the Liberals need to re-invent themselves after ten years of Martinite/Chretienite blood-letting. Without seats among the tongue-clucking classes in the three major urban areas of the country, he addressed these gaps by appointing Michael Fortier and David Emerson to cabinet posts.

Fortier is a major Tory political force in Quebec and Emerson is a well-respected businessman first recruited by Paul Martin in one of his infrequent moments of clarity.

The floor-crossing of Emerson has created an outcry from the lefty/unionist types in the blue collar riding of Vancouver-Kingsway, but really, I fail to see why it should be still on anyone’s radar screen this long after the appointment.

Yes, Emerson was elected as a Liberal. But frankly, Emerson is far from a Grit true-believer. He is still the same man the riding elected only now he has a seat at the cabinet table. If the trendy lefties in Vancouver Kingsway are so worried that the “scary Harper” might unleash his “hidden agenda” upon an unsuspecting population, aren’t they in a much better position to monitor that with a member in cabinet?

They are squealing like scalded cats but really, it’s much ado about nothing. Emerson will represent his riding ethically and responsibly, the hallmarks of his career at every turn thus far. And the sanctimonious whining from those who simply won’t move on is getting ever more tedious.

Fortier is an equally bold move. With a beachhead in Quebec, Harper moved to further align the federalist segment of the population that he needs to blunt the ambitions of the separatists who believed they were on a winning path to another referendum when the Liberals were caught inflagrente dilecto (yet again) only this time, with Adscam, it was more than anyone could stand.

True, he wasn’t elected and was appointed to the Senate in order to have him in Cabinet. While that may seem at odds with the democratic ideals of the Conservatives, it was a very pragmatic short-cut to bring the Quebec federalists on board. Or, at least, giving the Tories a chance to get them on board.

Make no mistake about it, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe saw the demise of the Liberals as a chance to re-energize his foundering separatist movement. With the electoral beachhead and the appointment of Fortier, Harper is demonstrating that the Tories are the logical alternative to those in Quebec who wish to see this country remain as a single entity.

It’s very early in Harper’s mandate and the upcoming budget and Throne Speech will be the real litmus test to see if Harper is the real meal deal or doomed to be a footnote in history. But frankly, his first few weeks have shown he is prepared to be bold and decisive.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

'Skids' clean up needs support

I'm more than a little heartened to see Vancouver Police Inspector Bob Rolls talking tough about cleaning up the world's largest open air drug bazaar, the Downtown Eastside. Or, as it was known when I walked a beat on its mean streets, " The Skids."

But talk is cheap. And the real test of this is whether the courts, the Crown and the Department itself, will withstand the inevitable pressure they will face as they proceed with their stated "zero tolerance" policy.

When I first set foot on the "beat" in the Skids it was a different job. In those days, in the early '80s, the beat was a coveted job. It was only given to those officers who had proven themselves in patrol cars to have the right stuff.

In those days, the beat squad in the Skids was totally self-driven in terms of the work that was done. We weren't responsible for radio calls and our work as part of the 12 man crew was totally self-generated. We went out and found the bad guys and put them in jail. In some ways it was a much more simple life. Within hours of a new guy arriving on the beat he was challenged. Not in the way the word is used today, but in the manner of the Wild, Wild West. To see how tough you were. One of the local street thugs would throw down the gauntlet and you either picked it up and hit him with it or you didn't last for much longer on the beat. That was just the way it was.

But, in those days we ruled the streets. There was no such thing as junkies using in plain view or dealers advertising their lethal wares blatantly on every street corner. No, in those days the junkies and dealers hid from the police.

Then something went awry. Maybe it was when we started referring to the dealers, users, muggers, rapists, thieves and assorted buttheads as “clients.” Maybe it was when we started swallowing the so-called “Four Pillars” nonsense that allowed the assholes to take control of the streets.

But the bottom line is that we let the streets get away from us. And by us, I mean the police. And that is the essential question in the message being sent out by the VPD. Will the department back those officers who pick up the gauntlet and smack some Honduran crack dealer in the chops with it?

Because, like it or not, that is what is required. And PIVOT and VANDU need to be told that their bovine scatology is irrelevant. A junkie makes a choice and the result is not a “social issue” but a crime issue. And there’s the rub.

No one, as far as I can see, is prepared to tell these groups to get stuffed. And that will be an issue when VPD tries to clean the streets of the ubiquitous junkies and death dealers that have been given a free pass in the Skids over the past 10-15 years.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Move on please

Is it just me, or is the media making a mountain out of a molehill on the David Emerson defection to the Tories?

And then there was the comments by the gone but not missed, former Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday. He's astonished apparently, that someone he plucked out of the private sector with promises of a cabinet post would have been plucked from the Liberal backbences by the promise of a cabinet post.

Why he would wait more than ten days to tell a disinterested country that he's "astonished" is anyone's guess. But frankly, Martin is yesterday's man and few, if any, are interested in his opinion on anything.

And today NDP leader Jack Layton is swanning into Vancovuer to "make sure the matter doesn't die." Give us a break Jack. Everyone in the country, with the exception of the liberal media and the looney left has come to grips with why it was done and, agree or not, has moved on. There's nothing left to be gained in trying to engage the nation this extended period of political flagellation. Move on. For God's sake, move on.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Is the Chief Justice afraid of change?

It was interesting to see the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada trying to cling on the last vestige of Liberal domination on the Canadian political scene by chiding Prime Minister Designate Stephen Harper not to "politicize" the appointing of a new Justice to the top court.

It is hard to imagine the process being any more political given the appointment is at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister. And, as evidenced by more than a decade of very liberal Liberal appointees, the PM will appoint someone who has a similar vision to that of the person doing the appointing.

Madame Justice Beverly McLachlin seems to think that the status quo is just ducky and is evidently afraid that Harper will appoint someone who doesn't share their soft on crime view of the country.

Let's be realistic, the decisions of the SCOC are the reason crime is running rampant across this country. A couple of cases readily come to mind like R v Feeney and R v Stintchcombe. These are glaring examples where the SCOC came to conclusions that have not only defied the logic of the average person, but dramatically hampered the prosecution of criminals and altered forever the ability of the police to do their job.

In her "advice" to Harper, Madam Justice McLachlin said, "And I think in order to preserve the public confidence in the impartiality of the courts, we should avoid politicizing it," McLachlin said.

Well that's certianly interesting. Does the learned judge actually believe that Canadians have any confidence in the impartiality of the courts?

I think not. Canadians perceive that the court system is designed to do everything to protect the rights of the accused and does precious little to protect society and the victims of crime. That is hardly a perception of "public confidence."

Stephen Harper has long been an avocate for change in the way judicial appointments are made in this country. He has spoken out in favour of de-politicizing the process and making appointees subject to the scrutiny of Parliament. Whether some form of scrutinizing committee of MPs will work or not is another discussion especially when you look at the Alito hearings in the US Senate these last few weeks. But at least Harper is talking about change. Which is more than can be said about the Chief Justice.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Election thoughts

As I write this it seems as though the country in going to have a change in government. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have not been given a majority government but a minority of some twenty or so seats.

How, given the corruption, cronyism and blatent disregard for democracy, has the Liberal party managed to retain over 100 seats in Parliament? However, it is not all bad news in this deranged Dominion.

Convicted jewel thief Svend Robinson seems like he has been given the bum's rush in Vancouver Centre. May he never darken our doorstep again.

And speaking of that, from a personal point of view, I won't miss the Prime Minister Paul Martin either. There was a time when he seemed to hold the future of this country in his hands. But, his thirst for power nearly destroyed the Liberal party from within. And frankly, that thirst for power overshadowed whatever merits he may have had for the job of Prime Minister.

And so farewell and adieu.

The Tories have had a major breakthrough in Quebec. Gille Duceppe and the Bloc have lost a few seats. And with that, a small glimmer of hope appears in the fight for national unity.

It is also inconceivable to me that Don Bell has been re-elected in North Vancouver. Albeit, Cindy Silver is a political neophyte with virtually no profile, it seems bizarre to me that a man who personifes everything that is wrong with the Liberal party could attract enough voters to regain his seat. Such is life in Canada.

But, on the positive side, we have a new government, one that is unfettered with cronies demanding favours. It is up to Stephen Harper to show the country he has the mettle to be what many of us hope he can be.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

A cross country look at Editorial positions on Election 2006

A regular reader suggested that we provide a compilation of editorial positions on Election 2006 from across the country. Here then, in no particular order, is what we have found.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com


National Post

Whatever happens on Jan. 23, Stephen Harper deserves credit for bringing the conservative movement in Canada to this point. As recently as 2003, conservatives were split between two bickering parties with very different cultures. It is a testament to his strong leadership that the party now appears so united and professional. Throughout it all, Mr. Harper has been subject to criticism -- not least, from us -- in regard to his style and tactics. He has borne such criticism with dignity, and has diligently kept to his message that this country can do better. He has certainly convinced us. And we hope he has convinced Canadian voters as well.
National Post editorial

The Gazette

The Liberal Party has failed, seriously and ignobly, on the principal issue of the day. For this reason, if no other, it is time for the Liberals to go.

The 2006 Conservative Party offers a program that can work very well for Quebec as a part of Canada. Given the Liberals' disgraceful abuse of the sacred trust of national unity, it's time for Quebecers to join their fellow Canadians in supporting Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.
The Gazette editorial

Ottawa Citizen

The Citizen has come out in support of the Conservatives. Unfortunately, their online editorial is hidden behind a subscription wall.
Ottawa Citizen editorial

Windsor Star

If your Canada includes Quebec, then your Canada cannot include another Liberal government under Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Windsor Star editorial

Edmonton Journal

It is time for change in Ottawa. It is time for a new government with fresh ideas, a different coalition of supporters and an entirely new cast of characters who are not wedded to the status quo and are not seduced by the notion that what's good for them is what's good for the country.
Edmonton Journal editorial

Calgary Herald

Therefore, having offered Canada capable people, sensible, moderate policies, and a credible promise to bring integrity to government, it is our hope Canadian voters reward Stephen Harper's Conservatives with a majority government on Monday.
Calgary Herald editorial

Vancouver Sun

It is time for a change in Ottawa.

Harper and the Conservatives have been slow to earn our trust. Even six months ago, they seemed desperate for power and focused solely on an angry, negative message. They provided little sense that they represented an alternative with which Canadians could feel comfortable.
Vancouver Sun editorial

The Province (Vancouver)

In the likelihood of a Tory minority, a British Columbia electoral map dominated by Conservatives with a smattering of New Democrats would serve us well.

It would also send an even stronger message to the Liberals -- now is the time to sit in the penalty box and think about how you got there.
The Province editorial

Victoria Times Colonist

We've been given enough promises from all three parties now that we should no longer be swayed by attack ads or dismayed by other mistakes that are sure to be made. We should use these last few days to look at the Liberal record and compare it to what the Conservatives have offered. We should examine the issues that separate the two.
Times Colonist editorial

Halifax Chronicle Herald

Mr. Harper’s strategy, to run a campaign focused on offering Canadians new policy choices, appears to have put him in the best position to win Monday’s election. The Conservative leader did well in the debates by staying unruffled by attacks of Mr. Martin and the other leaders. The tragic shooting in Toronto on Boxing Day amplified the Conservative message on getting tougher on crime, while the populist Tory pledge to cut the GST seemed to appeal to many people.
Chronicle Herald editorial

Ottawa Sun

The Liberals, by their actions and their attitude, have given up the right to govern just as surely as the Conservatives have earned the opportunity to put their plans into action.
Ottawa Sun editorial

Toronto Sun

After 12 years of Liberal rule, there is so much more important work to do, from fixing health care, to developing an adult relationship with the Americans, to rebuilding our military, to cementing the ties that bind our nation together, which the Liberals have frayed by their arrogance and corruption.

It's time to kick them out and give Harper and the Conservatives a chance to repair the damage the Grits have done.
Toronto Sun editorial

Toronto Star

Sadly, despite all efforts to portray himself as a changed, more moderate leader, such rhetoric smacks of the old Stephen Harper, one who barely two years ago lashed out at Liberals for allegedly stacking the courts with liberal-minded judges in a move to approve same-sex marriage.
Toronto Star editorial

Edmonton Sun

Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It has a nice ring to it. And that's the result that we want to see tomorrow night when the votes are counted
Edmonton Sun editorial

Calgary Sun

It appears Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is set to become our next prime minister and that's great by us.
Calgary Sun editorial

La Presse

En cette ère de soupçon, les électeurs se méfient des politiciens qui dissimulent leur véritable sensibilité. En taisant sa sympathie naturelle pour les Américains, le premier ministre a creusé sa propre tombe. Parce que les électeurs canadiens ne sont pas juste conviés à choisir une plate-forme électorale, mais aussi un homme d'État au jugement sûr, ils vont sans doute pencher pour un vrai conservateur plutôt qu'un faux libéral.

(translation) In this era of suspicion, the voters are wary of the politicians who dissimulate their true sensitivity. By concealing his natural sympathy to the Americans, the Prime Minister dug his own tomb. Because the Canadian voters are not just invited to choose an election platform, but also a statesman with sure judgement, they undoubtedly will lean for a true conservative rather as a false liberal.
La Presse editorial

The Fat Lady isn't singing yet

With everyone pretty much accepting that Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are going to form the next government, word comes in the form of a Decima poll suggesting that although Harper is holding his ten point lead nationally, the Liberals in Ontario have shown something of a resurgence.

The fat lady may be warming up in the room next door, but if Ontario goes solidly back to the Liberals, she may never get to take the stage. And that is troubling.

The winds of change may be blowing everywhere else in the country but there is still a large segment of the population of Ontario that seems to believe that the status quo is preferable to the legacy of corruption, entitlement and cronyism that has marked the last 12 years of Liberal domination in Ottawa.

Incredible.

Although there was good news for those of us who want to see an end to the Liberal stranglehold on the country. Harper's Tories have apparently made some terrific gains in Quebec of all places and Harper was there again today to reinforce his message to federalists.

Can the Tories elect MPs in Quebec? Hard to imagine, but certainly any path to a majority government requires the support of at least some of the ridings in that province. Certainly Gilles Duceppe seems to have come to grips with the issue and has turned his guns onto the Conservatives.

And speaking of guns, a litany of special interest groups and the usual suspects form the left are warning that a Harper government would wreak all manner of havoc.

Phil Fontaine, leader of the Assembly of First Nations was moaning in the media about Harper not being fully behind the Kelowna native deal reached in November. Then there was EGALE, the gay rights group saying: "If Stephen Harper goes ahead with his plan to reopen the divisive equal marriage debate, it will lead Canada into a legal swamp."

Huh?

And then there was the Canadian Climate Coalition who are worried that a Harper government would back away from the Kyoto accord orchestrated by Martin mentor and bribe-taker Maurice Strong. They accused Harper of moving Canada "into the same camp as U.S. President George W. Bush."

Anytime one of these left wing loons wants to discredit the Tories and Stephen Harper they invoke the name of the US President as though he is evil incarnate.

And Paul Martin was busy today shooting at all comers but couldn't resist yet another wild accusation that Harper has a "hidden agenda." I am really getting tired of that one. I only wish Martin would.

There are only a few days remaining until election day. The curtain may be ready to fall on a government bereft of ideas and riddled with corruption. But, the fat lady is still only warming up her vocal chords.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Spin City

I'm trying not to get too excited about the prospect of a Conservative government. And in this last week of the campaign I have to admit I am harboring more than a little trepidation that something very weird is going to happen to derail the momentum the Tories seem to be gaining.

In the dying days of the campaign PM Paul Martin is still relying on the "Harper is scary" message that proved so successful in the last campaign. But that is so 2004. And as the polls are showing, this is not.

NDP leader Jack Layton is still barking about tax cuts to "banks and oil companies" as though there aren't any other idustries out there who employ people and are chaffing under the tax burdens levied by the Liberals to provide the dollars they can steal.

Today, Paul Martin was in Vancouver appearing before the Board of Trade ostensibly to talk about about crime, an issue resonating with most voters. But no, crime wasn't on his radar screen. He went on about if Harper is elected then he will cut the precious social programs the Libs seem to think are precious to Canadians.

Really.

From a personal point of view I'd look forward to any government, Conservative or otherwise, that would rid this country of nonsense programs liked the gun registry and state mandated indoctrination centres. . . .sorry, day care facilities.

And don't get me started on the moribund health care system that even the Supreme Court has recognized as flawed.

More tomorrow. . . .

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Layton tries to talk tough

Was that really NDP leader Jack Layton trying to talk tough on crime today? Now that's funny!

Layton and his gang of group huggers are desperate to jump on the bandwagon since crime became a dominant issue in the federal election campaign. Today he was touting his solutions to the problem and predictably, he demonstrated the next time he gets a good idea will be the first time.

Among the foolishness uttered by Layton was this gem as reported by CTV. "He said his party would reduce access to crystal meth by stopping the illegitimate importation and sale of the drug. As well as increasing support for drug addiction programs."

I don't know where to start with that pearl of wisdom. He is going to stop the importation and sale of crystal meth! And just how, pray tell, is he going to do that? What sort of magic wand has he got that thus far has failed the entire drug enforcement apparatus of the United States who, I should add, are a great deal more active in the war on illegal drugs than anything this country has been able to muster.

Paul Martin says banning handguns (which are essentially already banned) is the answer to the gun crime spiralling out of control in this country while Layton has fanciful notions that he could actually stop the importation and sale of crystal meth.

These are our leaders. Sad isn't it?

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Martin spins to defend Minister under the gun

Prime Minister Paul Martin's spirited defense of embattled Finance Minister Relph Goodale is admirable in his loyalty to a trusted lieutenant but certainly nothing but an attempt at spinning a bad situation.

While speaking to the media, Martin said, "I believe that an investigation, as does he, will clear the air -- including the allegation as to whether or not a leak actually took place. The RCMP have said that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on Mr. Goodale's behalf, his office or his department."

One has a very difficult time believing the RCMP would advise the Prime Minister of something as definitive as that just as the investigation is beginning. How could they possibly know what evidence they will or will not uncover when they have not yet begun the investigation?

Martin's spin is nonsense and designed to deflect the calls for the resignation of a Minister under the cloud of a police investigation.

In the British parliamentary system, the Minister is responsible for the actions of his or her department. Traditionally, the Minister should fall on his sword should there be wrongdoing uncovered in the ministry. Equally, should that Minister be under a cloud of suspicion, then he or she should resign pending reinstatement when that cloud is lifted.

But, it would seem that only happens with an ethical government. That apparently does not include the government of Paul Martin.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Talk is cheap

The rhetoric is flying fast and furious from politicians of all stripes as the country tries to come to grips with the indiscrimate shooting that occurred on Boxing Day in Toronto.

The Prime Minister was fast out of the gate with a bunch of empty words that said exactly nothing about bringing about the type of change necessary to combat the senseless violence. Not that I would expect much else from him, but a real leader would stand up and meet the problem head on.

NDP leader Jack Layton got a little closer to the mark with his comments. "These crimes remind us that we must get illegal handguns off our streets in Toronto and across Canada. To do that we need tougher border controls, tougher sentencing for weapons offences and tougher anti-gang policing, prosecutions and sentencing."

Sounds good until the very next thing out of his mouth. "We need more effective witness-protection programs and more compassionate victim assistance. We also need to get tougher -- much tougher -- on poverty, unemployment and social exclusion."

Uh-huh. More socialist claptrap. I mean really, social exclusion? We are the most inclusive country in the world.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper at least seemed to focus on the issue when he said, "I am committed to doing everything necessary to crack down on gun violence, including increasing support for front-line policing; stopping the revolving door on our nation's sentencing system by introducing mandatory prison sentences; enforcing Canada's tough gun control laws; stopping the flow of illegal guns at our borders; as well as supporting community programs for youth at risk. I will have more to say about this in the days to come."

I suspect they all will have more to say on the issue in upcoming days. And what they say will be telling as the events in Toronto have propelled crime up the list in election issues. Only Harper seems to have grasped this fact thus far.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

A Christmas filled with horror

The news started breaking around the supper hour on Boxing Day. By this morning the full horror of what happened in a busy shopping area in downtown Toronto was clear. Two groups of rival thugs started tossing shots at each other with the streets full of people taking advantage of the best shopping day of the year.

When the smoke cleared, seven people had been shot and one was dead, a 15 year old girl out shopping with her family. An innocent victim of the escalating insanity dead with her whole life in front of her. It is absolutely outrageous.

These little pissants don't give a damn about the rules of a civilized society and it is way beyond time we recognized that in this country and started doing something to take back our streets.

We should all be sick and tired of the pablum we are being spoon-fed telling us that our sad excuse of a justice system is working. We are constantly being told that these scumbags deserve more chances and that jail doesn't work because they will be eventually let out.

I call Bullshit!

When a 15 year old girl can't go shopping with her family without getting shot, something is horribly wrong. And that something is the concept that the rights of the accused supersedes the rights of society to be protected. The concept of lawyers and the judiciary worshipping before the altar of the Charter in this country must stop.

Vancouver has the highest property crime rate on the continent. Surrey and Abbotsford, both suburbs of Vancouver, are number one and three respectively for the highest rates of car theft in North America. Toronto is setting historical records for the numbers of shootings and the number of handgun related deaths this year is twice the previous record. Edmonton is having a banner year in homicides and gang violence in Calgary is at an all time high.

The proliferation of organized crime is out of control and the government has done precious little to stem the rising tide.

Enough is enough.

We are in the middle of a federal election and the main issue in this country should be crime and the protection of society not whether or not Stephen Harper would call a free vote on gay marriage. Who cares if two men want to call themselves married? As long as the churches in this country can follow their respective doctrines and not be forced to participate, who really cares? This is not a campaign issue, it's a red herring put out there by a government bereft of ideas or morals.

We all have an opportunity in front of us to send a message that the status quo is not acceptable. And I'm not talking about the theft of millions of dollars by the Liberals.

No, I'm talking about demanding our politicians understand their primary duty is to protect the population as a whole and not just special interest groups, friends and party workers. They should then tell us exactly how they are going to do that. And then, and only then, consider whether they deserve your vote.

Our country is at a crossroads. This is not a left or right issue, this is a right and wrong issue. It is wrong to let the criminals do as they please, to snub their noses at society and then get no barriers placed in front of them to halt their criminal behaviour.

The murder yesterday of an innocent teenaged girl in Toronto is so outrageous it should wake up even the most somambulent of voters. I want to hear what everyone running for public office is going to do to fix a horribly broken system.

Enough is enough.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Martin just doesn't get it

Prime Minister Paul Martin’s proposed ban on handguns is further proof that he just doesn’t get it.

Crime is a huge problem in this country. Certainly the bodies falling on the streets of our cities is cause for concern, but this is no more a solution to gunfire on the streets than the gun registry was a solution to a lunatic misogynist like Marc Lepine.

Criminals have it easy in this country. All criminals – from shoplifters to Mafia kingpins and all stops in between. There are no meaningful consequences for committing crimes in this country. It is no more complicated than that.

Justice, such as it is, takes far too long to be delivered and when decision is finally rendered, it provides no solace for victims nor protection for the public. But, and more importantly, neither does it provide deterrence or punishment for the criminal. Well, nothing meaningful anyway.

Giving a street thug probation for breeching a probation order is not justice. Yet, that is the practical reality every day across this country. What about jail you ask? Not in this country. It is exceptionally difficult to go to jail in Canada for anything short of homicide and even then I’m still shaking my head at the conditional sentences given to the street racers convicted of criminal negligence causing death for killing Irene Thorpe.

If Martin really wanted to attack the proliferation of gun crime in our streets all he need do is amend the Criminal Code to tell the courts what to do and not let those ermine clad wonders on the Supreme Court bench tell the country what is good for us. Take back the country from the liberal social engineers who are convinced that all people will fit their image of what a good person is and will change their evil ways if given enough chances.

Commit a crime with a gun? Simple solution, you go to jail for years, not days. You don’t get a conditional sentence. You don’t get to piss about on probation. This is no different than stopping a puppy from peeing on your carpet. The puppy sees some consequences for his actions and eventually the behaviour is modified until it is acceptable.

Handguns have been tightly controlled in this country since 1934. According to StatsCan, two thirds of all gun related homicides are committed with handguns and 84% of those are committed with unregistered handguns. The Liberals have spent $2 billion on their stupid long-barrel gun registry and what has that achieved? Nada, nothing, zilch. Any legislation to further control handguns will not prevent one single, solitary death. But, knowing Martin it will probably cost a lot of money and employ a lot of bureaucrats who can speak both official languages.

Martin doesn’t get it and he never will.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Harper takes advantage of Martin's delirium

I realize it’s early in the campaign yet and far too soon to be making any predictions, but it certainly seems that Conservative leader Stephen Harper has seized the momentum out of the blocks.

Thus far he has unveiled a new plank of the Tory platform every day including his promise to trim two points off the hated GST, something that resonates with most, if not all Canadians.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has stumbled out of the gate and even taken the first weekend off to regroup. But before he limped back to 24 Sussex, Martin came out with one of the most inane comments ever uttered in any election campaign in this country’s history.

This appeared in a “brief” in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen:

Martin Makes His Pitch to Asian Canadian Voters

"Sometimes election campaigns can travel to so many cities and towns in a day it gets hard to remember what time it is or where you are. But Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared to forget what country he was in yesterday. During a series of interviews with Chinese media organizations, Mr. Martin attempted to explain to the interviewer how important the Chinese Canadian community is to the country. In fact, he announced that Canada has geographically moved its borders to be closer to them. "What we really are saying is we're a major Asian country," Mr. Martin told Omni TV, to roars of laughter from the Canadian media watching the interview."

Canada a major Asian country? Geographically moved our borders to be closer to Asia? Has he lost all touch with reality?

Harper has been strong thus far in deliberately and methodically saying what a Conservative government will do. Martin is musing about Canada’s place in Asia? The 60’s were apparently good to him.

Then there was NDP leader Jack Layton in Vancouver on the weekend trying to justify having a convicted thief on the slate when he actually said disgraced former MP Svend Robinson was an example in his behaviour.

"Svend has a long history of serving his community and standing up for people on many issues, and I think his behaviour, given what happened, has been exemplary and Canadians and his voters will certainly understand that and appreciate that," said Layton in response to reporter’s questions.

Really? Well, this Canadian voter does not understand that. Robinson got caught stealing a woman’s diamond ring worth over $50,000. He claimed he had some type of brain cramp. Well, whatever. He stole and got caught. The last thing this country needs is another thief in Ottawa. The Liberals have provided enough of them.

This election was driven because of the systemic corruption in the federal Liberal party. The combined opposition said the government lost its moral authority to govern. If ethics is the primary issue, one wonders how Layton can possibly defend the actions of Robinson with a straight face. But then again, Paul Martin thinks we are no longer on the North American continent.

All in all, it would seem, a good week for Stephen Harper.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Throw the bums out

If the first day of the new federal election campaign is any indicator, this is going to be a nasty fight.

On CKNW’s Bill Good show before the Prime Minister even got to Rideau Hall to ask for the dissolution of Parliament, Mark Marissen, the Liberal Party of Canada campaign director in BC, came out swinging at the scariness of Stephen Harper. He evoked all the usual nonsense – the Tories are controlled by the religious right; gay marriage will be banned; women’s right to choose will be revoked.

Clearly the Liberals are heading into the campaign bereft of anything remotely resembling an original idea. They stole our money then spent the days leading up to the non-confidence vote in the House trying to bribe us with what was left of it. I don’t know what’s more shocking. That they would try such an obvious ploy or that there are still voters in this country who would let them get away with it.

The Liberals have proven at every turn that they are a tired, spent force as a government. Paul Martin played politics to a fare-thee-well to cling to power. He crawled into bed with Jack Layton to get his budget passed last spring and even bribed Belinda Stronach with a Cabinet post to turn her back on her party and her boyfriend. And then, when the opposition began demanding an election after the first Gomery report, he had the temerity to say he wouldn’t play politics, he was too busy trying to govern.

The vapid Liberal spin in the past couple of weeks is insulting to any Canadian with a lick of common sense. The latest is that the Tories have got into bed with the Bloc and thusly threaten the nation. What tripe!

The opposition is made up of three parties and a handful of independents. For their own reasons the parties agree they lost confidence in a government bereft of a moral compass. That is hardly climbing into bed with anyone for any nefarious purpose.

Indeed, it is the Liberals and the corruption that was demonstrated in the Sponsorship scandal that ultimately is threatening the federation. Couple that with the appointment of Jean Lapierre, founder of the BQ, as Minister of Transport after the last election and it is the Liberals who threaten Confederation. But that doesn’t fit their spin now does it?

The Liberals will try and convince you that Stephen Harper is the boogeyman. Martin will try to sell himself as the only logical choice because they are the “devil you know.” Well, we do know them. They are the party of corruption, of patronage, of entitlement and the party of scandal.

It’s time to throw the bums out.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Liberal posturing fails to get at root of gun problem

Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's announcement on manadatory minimum sentences for gun crimes proves yet again that they just don't get it.

On the face of it the Liberals need to show they can be tough on crime. After all, with Mr. Justice Gomery's final report due in February we will be going to the polls within the next six months whether or not the opposition can force an election earlier. And, any announcement from this government that appears to do anything to stem the rising tide of violent crime is welcome.

But realistically, Cotler's most recent foray into the debate about manadatory minimum sentences is nothing more that political posturing. And the Liberals can posture with the best.

The real issue is the illicit drug trade and the turf wars that go along with it. Organized crime in its many forms is at the centre of all of this and any attempt to deal with the gun violence in our cities needs to recognize this at the outset. And it is on the issue of organized crime that this government fails miserably.

Look at the report released by FINTRAC last week claiming they had identified over $2 billion in suspected money laundering and terrorist financing.

Hey, that's great guys! Now, if you don't mind, could you answer this: What have you done about it?

The short answer is nothing. They claim to have made 142 disclosures to law enforcement. Great. Now what are they going to do with it without the resources to actually investigate it?

And this is where the rubber meets the road in all of this. The RCMP are essentially the only organization that has the capability to do organized crime investigations. Municipal forces are focussed on meeting the demands for service in their various communities and are unwilling to commit any of their scarce resources to long-term, expensive investigations into organizations that don't recognize or respect borders.

That leaves the Mounties. There are a couple of special sections such as the CFSEU in Ontario, Quebec and now in BC as well since they usurped the Organized Crime Agency (OCABC). But they are small sections with limited budgets. To follow money laundering information such as FINTRAC provides, requires a large team of dedicated investigators, surveillance units, electronic intercepts and time. A lot of it. These investigations take more than a year on average and that is just to go after one of the 142 disclosures made by FINTRAC.

The bottom line is that the police are barely making a dent in organized crime in this country. The drug trade and the profits it generates for organized crime far surpasses any efforts the police are able to mount. And that leads to a lot of competition for control in the streets. And that leads to guns in the hands of street level gang-bangers, used by the real players as cannon fodder in the bigger game.

If Cotler and his colleagues really wanted to make a dent in gun crime, they would produce some initiatives to give law enforcement the tools and resources to actually wage a war against organized crime instead of only being able to engage in superficial skirmishes.

If they actually wanted to do something. But they don't. As best I can tell, all they want to do is cling to power.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Justice Minister dishes up more of the same

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler had the opportunity to do something positive to stem the rising tide of crime in our cities this week with Bill C-70, the act designed to amend the Criminal Code to restrict the blindly stupid use of conditional sentences in our provincial courts.

But, as with everything this Liberal government does, he booted the opportunity. The bill does nothing it is being touted as doing. Nothing.

And for some reason, MADD is applauding this sleight of hand by Cotler. After generating over 30,000 names on a petition to get the fed's attention on this issue, they are pleased when he says he is doing something about it, but does nothing.

Conditional sentences were first foisted on an unsuspecting country back in the mid-90s. Ostensibly, the concept was to give judges an alternative to jail in cases that were non-violent in nature and where there were circumstances that indicated the accused would benefit from a non-custodial sentence. In concept, it was still meant to follow the other provisions on sentencing in the Criminal Code in which the protection of the public was a salient factor.

But something happened along the way to allow the courts to give conditional sentences for all manner of crimes even manslaughter. Despite calling this Bill an "initiative to restrict the use of conditional sentences for violent crimes," it doesn't.

Apart from banning the use of conditional sentences for anything terrorism or organized crime related, this new Bill C-70 gives judges all the wriggle room they need to ensure the status quo is maintained when he wrote in the phrase, "exceptional circumstances." Perhaps MADD forgot to read that part or maybe they actually trust these guys.

In many municipalities, voters are gearing up for local elections next week. Listening to talk radio and reading the papers, it seems quite clear that crime and high taxes are the main issues this time around. Admitedly, it is the federal government that can do the most on those two issues .

Unfortunately for the voters, the last election was hijacked by the spin doctors and they managed to convince the electorate that the election was all about protecting public health care and Stephen Harper was scary. And a majority of Canadian lemmings bought it.

There is another election coming soon. The Liberals are gearing up for it already and the bill introduced by Cotler is designed to convince the country that they are getting tough on crime. But, when one actually scratches beneath the surface, it's clear it is the same old stuff. All sizzle, no steak.

One hopes the electorate, and MADD, figure this out before the writ is dropped.

Leo Knight

Email Leo

Liberal sleaze laid bare

Pure unadulterated sleaze.

If there was ever any doubt that the Liberal Party of Canada was corrupt to the core, yesterday's release of the testimony of Jean Brault, Paul Coffin and the Sultan of Sleeze, Chuck Guite, ought to have removed the blinders from even the most naive of the editorial board of the Toronto Star, the unofficial organ of the federal Liberals.

Depictions of gifts, benefits and Formula One tickets are bad enough, but the direction made by Guite to make a $50,000 donation to Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest's campaign and recover the money by padding govenment contracts shows the core corruption that ought to even make Paul Martin blush with embarrassment.

But it won't.

Martin and his cronies are already planning how to spin the next election which is supposed to be called after Justice Gomery releases his report which is sure to be damning.

Wait for it, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will continue to be painted as "scary" and Martin will cluck his tongue about how "unacceptable" the advertising scandal is and how he took action when he finally found out about it. And the editorial board of the Toronto Star will fall in lock-step with Martin and his corrupt government. Again.

The picture illustrated by Adscam is depressingly familiar. The Liberals give out dubious contracts to friends and cronies worth millions and a portion of the money gets funnelled back back in various Liberal election war chests which is used to ensure they can remain in power to continue the cycle over and over and over again.

And make no mistake about this, Adscam is only one method the Liberals used to accomplish this. In fact it seems to me it was only a small part of it.

Mr. Justice Gomery described the practice quite accurately when he said, "If it was a drug deal, it would be called money laundering.” Remember that the scam was overseen by Alfonso Gagliano the former accountant to Augustino Cuntrera, the de facto head of the Caruana - Cuntrera crime family and that observation becomes particularly more poignant.

And Adscam was only a piece of chump change compared with the so-called 'Shovelgate' scandal where $3 billion was administered through the HRDC ministry in dubious grants and sponsorships and job-creation projects to Liberal friendly groups, companies and organizations. A scandal that spawned, I might add, 19 separate criminal investigations and has seemingly disappeared off the radar screens.

Neither former Prime Minister Jean Chretien nor the current PM ever called a public inquiry into that scandal despite the fact that it involved more than ten times the amount of money in question in the Adscam scandal. I guess for Paul Martin, that was "acceptable."

But it really doesn't matter what program were talking about. The Liberals are all about staying in power to funnel taxpayer money to their friends and insiders who then launder the money back to the Liberals who use it to aide their re-election aspirations.

Their modus operandi has been laid bare by the testimony made available in the Gomery Inquiry. But don't for a moment believe that Adscam was isolated in any way, shape or form.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Justice System is a charade

For years I have been saying the justice system as it is administered in BC is fundamentally broken. Last week Attorney General Wally Oppal appeared to agree when he said we have to get tougher on habitual car thieves. And who could argue with him? It remains to be seen whether Oppal will back up his words with action that is desperately needed in that one area.

But, Oppal would be well-advised to broaden his point of perspective and look at the system as a whole. Yes, car thieves are a huge problem in BC. With a thousand cars a week being stolen by a small group of habitual thieves it’s a no-brainer for Oppal to finally say something needs to be done.

But this is British Columbia, a place that is a haven for those who engage in criminal activity.

Yes, a haven for the criminal class. A strong statement perhaps, but a very accurate one much to the chagrin of those of us who pay the freight for the system and the price for its failings.

The problem is acted out daily in our courts. Some thug is arrested for yet another slap in the face of society and appears in front of a Provincial Court Judge. The judge tsks-tsks for a while then metes out superficial bail conditions to an habitual offender already serving a term of probation, which he ignored, in the naive belief that some new conditions and some finger-wagging will have an effect.

It’s a charade and every judge instinctively knows it. Yet, they play their role without complaining about the futility of it all.

Allow me to give you an example. On July 2nd a young man was walking home from his girlfriend’s house in Richmond. He got jumped by six young men. Men he had never seen before and to whom he had absolutely no connection.

He was pepper-sprayed, kicked, beaten and stabbed. In spite of his injuries, he was able to call 9-1-1 and the RCMP dog unit that responded tracked down and arrested Patrick Gregory Adamczewski, a 19 year old criminal frequent flyer. He was charged with attempted murder. Charges, I might add, which were later reduced to aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. Lesser charges, but still, one would think, serious.

Note that these were not the oft-described “non-violent” offences for which the system routinely activates the revolving door on the front of the courthouse.

Adamczewski was arraigned and released on bail with the usual condition to keep the peace and be of good behaviour among other things. His mother showing a faith only a mother could, put up a $25,000 surety to secure his release. He ignored the court-imposed conditions to no one’s surprise.

On September 2nd he was arrested. When he was brought before a judge on the new charges, and despite his history, much of which I cannot tell you about to protect the young man’s privacy, he was again released on bail.

And with that, the courts, yet again, failed in their duty to protect the public.


Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Canada needs relief from the Liberals

The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation joined with various other political activists and a few Conservatives on Parliament Hill on Saturday to protest high gas prices. Or, more accurately, to protest the oppressive taxes charged on top of high gasoline prices.

"Let's work to ensure that consumer anger becomes voter anger and that this is an issue in the next federal election," said John Williamson federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation at the rally.

Considering that taxes from all governments make up about 45% of the price of a litre of gas it seems to be a significant point that relief for consumers would best be provided if the leeches that masquerade as our federal government would back the taxes off even if only a little.

But Finance Minister Ralph Goodale threw cold water on that request when he said lowering taxes would only provide minimal relief. But the kicker is what he followed that up with when he said the money would be better used by Ottawa and poured into federal programs.

Really Ralph? Like what? Another Adscam? Perhaps an expansion of the Gun Registry?

This is exactly the attitude that underlines why this country is in the state it's in. Why we're the highest taxed country in the G8 and businesses are taxed higher here than in any country in the world save and except the Communist country of China for God's sake.

This country needs relief from the Liberals and more of their "programs."

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

One family's tragedy underlines flawed system

Yesterday, a BC family buried their dead. Two newly-orphaned kids were brought to the church by members of the BC Ambulance Service, still in stretchers recovering from their injuries.

But tears and grief was not the only demonstrable emotion. Indeed, anger at a justice system so fundamentally flawed that a family is missing their son and daughter, two kids are missing their parents and siblings are missing their brother and sister.

On Labour Day, a Coquitlam family returning from a wedding in Calgary, was cut down in a head-on collision just east of Golden, BC. Lorene Calder, 43, and her husband Brad 47, were killed. Their kids, Natasha 15, and Justin, 12, were seriously injured in the crash.

Certainly, traffic fatalities on our highways always seem to punctuate long weekends, this tragedy was caused by a 19 year old junkie/thief in a stolen car. Dustin Carmichael, the driver of a stolen jeep who plowed into the Calder family was wanted at the time of the crash.

Carmichael was caught stealing a car in February 2004 when he was 18 years old. He was sentenced to 60 days and a year’s probation. I am not allowed to tell you about his juvenile record were I to know what it was, nor am I even allowed to confirm whether he had a juvenile record. But, considering no first time property crime offender ever goes to jail in the criminal paradise of British Columbia, I’m going to assume there was a fairly lengthy criminal history.

But, to no one’s great surprise, Carmichael committed an armed robbery while on probation. He got 14 months for that particular transgression. He then escaped from custody and got another four months tacked on.

He was also a junkie who stole to feed his habit. Crystal, crack it didn’t matter. In June he promised the parole board that he’d be a good boy and take counseling for his drug habit. They believed him and let him out ten months before his sentence was due to expire.

As was entirely predictable, Carmichael ditched his counseling before it was complete and went to ground. He was supposed to live with his grandmother on his release. Well, he neither showed there nor at his probation officer’s office. A warrant was issued for his arrest and with that, the parole system wiped its hands of an habitual thief, junkie and convicted armed robber.

Less than two weeks later, while driving a stolen Jeep, Carmichael killed the Calders, put the Calder kids in critical condition and killed himself and his girlfriend, also 19.

The tragedy here is gut-wrenching.

A spokesperson for the parole board tried to mitigate their responsibility in this by saying if they hadn’t let him out into counseling, he would have been released anyway at the two-thirds point in his sentence. True, but the Calders would still be alive and Carmichael would have eventually breached his conditions anyway.

But even that observation seems trite.

The problem is the way the system treats habitual criminals like Carmichael. True he was only 19, but his history clearly showed there was no hope for him. And minor sentences like 14 months for armed robbery let alone the original 60 days for stealing a car, continue to be as ineffective as the parole board’s hand wringing.

And probation on top of probation on top of probation for someone who has clearly demonstrated a total lack of concern for any restriction put upon him by the courts is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Brad Calder was a family man, a hard worker and a sports coach for kids in his community. He was a productive member of society. He and his wife are just the latest victims of a liberal experiment in social engineering that continues to prove its fallibility.

Will they never learn?

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

All bluster and spin

While sipping on a Sunday morning coffee, I just about spit it out over the infernal cat when I read the Calgary Sun's "blow job" on that city's Chief Constable Jack Beaton. ( Top cop to focus on gangs)

Quite apart from anything else, it seems quite disingenous for the Calgary Sun to refer to the tumultuous tenure of Beaton given that the paper has virtually ignored the main story in its entirety for the past eight months to a year.

It's a funny thing really, a major metropolitan daily acting as though everything was fine and dandy in the city police service despite the majority of police officers expressing in a survey that they had no confidence in its management, despite a variety of criticisms against the senior management including formal complaints and civil suits filed against the chief himself.

The rest of the media in Calgary covered the bullying tactics of Beaton as he exercised extraordinary methods to silence the authors of a website critical of him. Once complete, then Beaton conducted a witch hunt to further silence people who had the unmitigated gall to email the website authors. The witch hunt even attempted to reach right into the office of the Minister of Jutice. But not the Calgary Sun.

It's extraordinary really. And now they give mere mention of the sordid chapter in a piece extolling the virtues of the Chief as Beaton finally allows there is a gang problem in that fair city. That's rich.

Calgary has had a "gang" problem for a number of years now. Ask any police officer. Indeed, ask any police officer involved in organized crime investigation in either Edmonton or Vancouver and they will tell you of the triangle of organized crime between those cities.

It' s all about drugs and it's all about the power and money that go hand in hand with drugs. To suggest, as Beaton does in the story, backhandedly, that the police will easily handle the problem is naieve in the extreme. To further claim that they will do it as they handled the Hells Angels is frighteningly ridiculous.

The Calgary Police Service merely won a battle in a much larger war against organized crime and the Hells Angels when they successfully concluded an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a few patches. The city expropriated their clubhouse and forced its relocation. That is all.

The war against organized crime is being fought on many fronts by many brave men and women. The gang problems that arise in all cities is merely a by-product of the bigger war. It needs to be recognized and fought properly and never trivialized.

I take no issue with elements within the media that want to support law enforcement. No one in the media defends the police more than yours truly. But, to ignore significant and substantial criticism in favor of lobbing softballs at a problem that grows daily is merely playing sap to the problem itself.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Fighting back against the Hells Angels

Friday's raids on properties belonging to the Hells Angels East End chapter were a welcome shot across the bow of the outlaw biker gang.

Well, welcome for most honest law-abiding citizens I should say.

I listened this morning to Vancouver Chapter member Rick Ciarnello flapping his gums on CKNW on the Peter Warren show. For the most part he got a shellacking from callers only to have the blustery biker call them "stupid" for calling it as they saw it.

But Ciarnello, for all his propaganda, did make a good point when he refused to equate his club members with members of the federal Liberal party. The Libs are currently embroiled in the Sponsorship scandal that clearly defines the systemic corruption that has come to epitomize the Liberal Party of Canada.

Smart on his part I suppose. Despite the hundreds of murders attributed to the Hells Angels in this country, not to mention the arrests in chapters across the country, any suggestion that the Hells Angels were somehow comparable to the federal Liberals was somehow beneath him.

The day after the search warrants were executed we were treated to the vision of long-time East End member John Peter Bryce wailing and whining about the fact the police hit the clubhouse hard, using big tools to open the metal reinforced doors. Bryce whined that there were people there who would have opened the door if asked.

Well, whatever. The Hells Angels use hang-arounds, puppet gangs and prospects to provide security for the clubhouses. The chances of a wannabe allowing voluntary entry to a police officer knocking on the door asking "by your leave", into a clubhouse are somewhere between slim and bugger all.

But we'll allow Bryce his make-believe world. But I suppose he has to play "let's pretend", after all, one of the individuals caught in the latest police dragnet was his own son. It would seem the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

But at the end of the day, Bryce's bleatings are just that. The Hells Angels, as an entity, may not be a criminal organization as a whole. In fact, the outlaw motorcycle gang operates in a cellular structure with individual members running their own "business" and using their gang status as their ultimate weapon of intimidation to ensure their "business" is successful.

But much of that may be little more than semantics. The police in BC have served notice in this investigation that the bikers do not have immunity from the law. They also said in their actions, that they will not be intimidated. That was their message to John Peter Bryce and his brother members when they smashed their way into their fortified clubhouse.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

In a world gone mad

As I watched events unfold in the UK this past week, I couldn't shake the feeling the world has truly gone mad.

In Gleneagles at the G8 conference, events pretty much unfolded as predicted in last week's entry. The anarchists, waited for what they perceived as the right time and attacked the police lines.

The police, ready as ever, repelled the assault and made a couple of hundred arrests over the course of three days.

The media consistently referred to the anarchists and mayhem-makers as 'protesters.' They are nothing of the kind. Sir Bob Geldof called for a day of protest. Many thousands answered the call, lending their voice and their presence in support for the cause. They are protestors.

People who hide behind balaclavas, armed with tire irons, bottles, rocks and petrol bombs are not protestors. They are thugs and need to be treated as such, especially by the media who seem to think they are the victims.

As it was all unfolding according to script, the unthinkable happened in London. A series of bomb blasts turned the city into absolute chaos, shutting down the transit system and leaving 55 dead and hundreds wounded.

The world was horrified. Well, except for the followers of radical Islam and quite likely the anarchists who were arrested in the violence at Gleneagles. They of course will blame Tony Blair for blindly following Bush into Iraq and whatever other nonsense their moribund brains come up with.

There seems little doubt that al Qaeda factions were responsible. There is also little doubt the blasts were designed to cause maximum terror and maximum commotion especially when the bulk of the country's security apparatus was busy in Gleneagles with the G8.

This type of attack may be all that's left to them. In the post 9/11 world, security, especially on the North American continent has been substantially improved. What Mohammed Atta and his cohorts were able to achieve that horrible day is very unlikely, if not impossible in today's world.

US and coalition forces as well as security forces from around the world have captured or killed many of the leaders of al Qaeda. The primary battle front in the War on Terror is in Iraq. But that doesn't mean the enemy has no ability to bring the fight to other countries. The events of this week clearly show that the enemy, though wounded, is still very, very dangerous to Western civilization.

We, in the west, including Canada, are at war. We have been since the fall of 2001. The enemy are the believers in radical Islam. They can attack anywhere, anytime. And they will remain dangerous until they either give up, which is unlikely, or are eradicated as a threat.

For some reason our politicians seem to think that same sex marriage was the most important issue facing the country this summer. And they have managed to lead the lapdog media into believing that too. To accept that, as they have done, shows how delusional they really are in this mad world.

We in Canada, have yet to experience a terror attack on our shores. But it will happen sooner or later. That seems as inevitable as the sun coming up tomorrow or Paul Martin lying to suit his position of the day.

Martin and his Liberals are governing during a time of war. The first and primary duty of any government is to protect its citizenry. We have seen no sign of that from them as they chirp and harp about the right of gay people to marry.

If governing is all about priorities, in this world gone mad, it is hard to believe - nay, conceive even - that our government cannot see the how badly they are failing in their duty.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

A long, hot summer

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, but I have just returned from a most welcome respite golfing the fine tracks in the Okanagan. But the nose is firmly back on the grindstone now.

I couldn't help but notice the news today that the black-clothed buttheads have resurfaced in Edinburgh and wasted little time in attacking the police deployed in the annual charade that surrounds the G8 meetings.

Wait for it. Today's clashes were only the beginning. Gleneagles is, unfourtunately a little too close to civilization to be holding the annual meeting of the leaders of the free world.

This has become an all too frequent event and the accompanying riots are too much to take. And watch as the mainstream media refer to the anarchist buttheads as "protestors" as though they were there to actually there to do anything but attack the police and then whine like petulant children when they get what they were asking for - a proper ass kicking.

Remember Svend in Quebec City? "Waaaaahhhhh . . . a rubber bullet put a hole in my pants!"

Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't give a fig when they get their ass kicked nor do I care that they get it at all. What I do care about are the cops on the front lines who have to exercise all possible restraint as these perfectly good examples of oxygen wastage plan their mayhem while the media plays along instead of calling it what it really is.

From the petrol bombs, the tire irons, the rocks and bottles, the cops are going to see it all. And when they take action you will listen to the poor "protestors" whine and whimper about the brutality exercised by the men and women paid to protect society. And the media will eat it up.

Oh yes, I've seen it all before. . . APEC, Seattle, Quebec City, Genoa. The story is always the same. Only the locations change. When it didn't happen was at Kannaskis. It was too remote with security controlling the access so that the buttheads would have had to befriend a grizzly bear to get near. The attempts that were made in Calgary were thwarted by the excellent efforts of the Calgary Police Service to, literally, cut 'em off at the pass every time a stunt was attempted.

Oh yeah, and there was the meeting in China where none of the buttheads showed up because there, they would have really met with treatment unlike anything they now claim as police brutality.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com