Re Populist Thuggery
Congratulations to David Harris. It makes many of the same points as an open discussion on Tough in Crime on CBC Radio’s program Sunday Morning today, that featured several people specialized in or very conversant with the subject. Four ministers and officials of the current federal government were invited to participate but declined. The point was made by several speakers that polls show a substantial majority of Canadians favouring the Tough on Crime approach, despite lots of evidence that it is counter-productive. So the government can say that it is following popular opinion, however misguided that may be. Sadly, a substantial majority of Canadians seem to want a return of the death penalty for murder — or think they do.
