Do Tories Hate Kids?

Do Harper and his Tories hate kids? Perhaps not, but there is evidence they don't hold young people in any high regard. Take just two examples: What to do about young offenders, and addressing the nation's daycare needs.

Fuzzy blue sweater notwithstanding, Harper seems to regard young offenders with particular loathing, judging by the penalties he and his party wish to inflict upon them, and the mean, vindictive tone of voice in which he delivers his pronouncements on youth crime.

It is true that there is a small number of violent offenders (of all ages) who must be locked up to protect the public, but in dealing with this small number to the exclusion of almost everything else, the Tories focus on the wrong end of the criminal justice process--on those relatively few young people whose violent behaviour is most often the consequence of any of a number of reasons--violence and abuse inflicted upon them, broken social bonds, poverty, mental and developmental factors, and the lack of practical, consistent, adequate assistance for children and families at risk--or a combination thereof. (The Tories do give a nod to prevention with a paltry $10 million for youth gang prevention, whatever that might be.)

By refusing to address the above conditions which encourage criminal behaviour, and proposing only punishment to deal with young offenders, Harper and his Tories offer the judicial equivalent of snake oil--a slick, misleading presentation of policies which would, if anything, make matters worse, while deteriorating social programs fail to provide the necessary alternatives.

As for the deterrent effect of harsh penalties, Harper is either ignorant of, or willfully neglects, the evidence that most criminals, especially young ones, do not think in a logical manner when committing crimes; they primarily calculate, if they pause to consider the possible unpleasant consequences of their actions at all, their chances of being caught (an exercise which may consist more of discounting the possibility than being deterred by it). The severity of the penalties may make offenders more desperate to avoid capture while not inhibiting their criminal activity in the first place.

The goal of society should be to have as few people as possible pass through the criminal justice system, with incarceration being our last choice, not, as with the Tories, the first. A more fruitful approach would start with ending the war on drugs; a war which skews the criminal justice system in the wrong direction by providing persuasive incentives for everything from minor property theft all the way up to gang warfare. The Tories, however, refuse to even consider this sensible course, wrapped as they are in their self-righteous insistence on inflicting their personal views—and their expensive and dangerous consequences—on the rest of us.

A second, complementary approach to minimizing crime, is to take steps early in people's lives to address the conditions which encourage crime by combining measures to alleviate poverty (a negative income tax and/or other supports of purchasing power); assist parents in improving their parenting skills; and provide early support and treatment for those who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, dyslexia, or other difficulties, mental or physical (which so often underlie criminal behaviour); and second, to implement a wide-spread restorative justice system in which young offenders (and older ones) learn how to take responsibility for their actions and make restitution to their victims and communities.

It is instructive to note that, when the Young Offenders Act, with its emphasis on 'justice' instead of the welfare of the young person, came into effect in 1984, Quebec did not follow the other provinces into treating young offenders more harshly, but persisted with a child welfare/rehabilitation model. The result is that Quebec has the lowest rate of youth violence in North America. Ignoring this fact, Harper is determined to put an inferior process in place, regardless of its proven limitations, not only because he believes it will win him votes, but because he is a punitive-minded man who sincerely believes that inflicting pain and hardship on others, somehow makes them easier to get along with.

One of the drawbacks of retributive justice is how often victims feel their needs have not been recognized or met, nor that they have had meaningful participation in the process, victim impact statements notwithstanding. But it is the harm done to the victim, and victim’s needs that is at the centre of restorative justice.

Restorative justice works on a number of principles, of which the following is one of the most central, "Restorative Justice is a process to 'make things as right as possible' which includes: attending to needs created by the offense such as safety and repair of injuries to relationships and physical damage resulting from the offense; and attending to needs related to the cause of the offense (addictions, lack of social or employment skills or resources, lack of moral or ethical base, etc.)." [Restorative Justice - Fundamental Principles by Ron Claassen, Director Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, Fresno Pacific University http://peace.fresno.edu/rjprinc.html ]

To work at its best, restorative justice is labour intensive, and therefore does not come cheap. However, prisons don't come cheap, either, and offer even less chance of success in rehabilitation.

Harper's claim that it is necessary to "...drive home the seriousness of very violent crimes," before rehabilitation can take place, ignores the fact that punishment, instead of helping to focus the miscreant's attention on the pain they've caused others, and how to bring about atonement for it, encourages them to focus on their own pain, and to feel that they are the victim, thereby hindering rehabilitation.

The Tories claim to be tough on crime, but their approach is completely ineffectual in combatting it because they insist on perpetuating the biggest source of criminal activity (and the most expensive failure of public policy ever devised)--the war on drugs. As long as drug use remains a criminal offence, the black market and the gangs who run it, will flourish. But the Harper Tories' implacable denial of this fact endangers us all.

The second example of the Tories disdain for young people is their pathetic excuse for a daycare program--a taxable grant of a measly $100 a month, accompanied by the wishful thinking that businesses would fill the gap in daycare spaces, which (as any business person could have told them) companies will never do in a general way, even with government incentives, because daycare is not their 'core' business. Some firms have daycare for their own employees; the vast majority do not, and never will.

(For all their kowtowing to special business interests, Harper's Tories don't understand that the best conditions for doing business are not low taxes, but reasonable taxes that help fund the government services--from commercial and other legislation, to education, to transportation and communication infrastructure, to police and the courts, to health care and daycare--that business interests cannot function without, and profit from daily. More likely, the Tories and businesspeople know this, but they don’t let on to the Canadian public because they want us to go on paying for these essential services while corporations and their managements enjoy the lion’s share of the benefits, along with generous corporate tax cuts.

Harper's Tories are fond of appearing to give people choices (except for abortion, of course, which they surely will attack again, if they ever gain a majority), but in refusing to provide more daycare spaces, the Tories actually restrict choice. The $100 a month per child that is being frittered away, (not by the recipients, by the government), costs $2 billion a year; money which would be much better spent on funding daycare spaces than on under-funding parents who still cannot find high quality care.

In conclusion, Harper and his Tories may not hate kids, but they believe in a mean, narrow, punishment-driven philosophy that ends up wasting resources, human and financial, and making matters worse. They would rather waste hundreds of millions of tax dollars on the most expensive and least effective means of social control--police, courts, and prisons--than invest in less expensive, more effective programs for early education, treatment for mental and developmental difficulties, daycare, restorative justice, and other methods that work to prevent youth violence before it begins.