Let's Get the Bad Guys

Well, for all of you out there that thinks Canada is soft on terrorists - and we must be since I can't even remember the last one we convicted - finally some good news today, from the Globe and Mail:

The Canadian judge heading the Air-India inquiry is being asked by the Stephen Harper government to consider new ways to try terrorism suspects -- including a parallel system where cases would be weighed by three-judge panels instead of the standard judge or jury.

Since it was announced one week ago, Mr. Justice John Major's commission has been chiefly described as a means of bringing "closure" to families whose loved ones were killed more than 20 years ago.

But his job is more broad and forward-looking than just that: He is to perform nothing less than a full review of the Canadian criminal justice system as it applies to terrorism prosecutions.

Well, this certainly seems a good first step, considering the number of repeat terrorist offenders we've been dealing with.

Defence lawyers say they are alarmed by any implicit suggestion that Canada's legal system is incapable of prosecuting terrorists. "There is a discussion that a single judge or judge and jury, somehow, are not up to the task," said criminal lawyer Marlys Edwardh. ". . . There is no evidence that that concern is justified."

The inquiry comes amid rising doubts that the Canadian criminal justice system is capable of bringing terrorists to justice. Last year's acquittal of two Vancouver men, the alleged ringleaders of the 1985 Air-India bombing, outraged relatives of the 329 victims. Last month, a U.S. State Department report criticized Canada for failing to convict anyone under the anti-terrorism laws passed in 2001.

Now, the government itself is wondering whether the system needs fixing. It has ordered Mr. Major to examine "whether the unique challenges presented by the prosecution of terrorism cases . . . are adequately addressed by existing practices or legislation, and, if not, the changes in practice or legislation that are required to address these challenges, including whether there is merit in having terrorism cases heard by a panel of three judges."

Such changes could open up a Pandora's box of thorny legal questions, and lead to a change in current laws intended to keep spy "intelligence" separate from Crown "evidence," as well as a Charter of Rights and Freedoms principle that every accused is entitled to a jury trial.

Well, obviously there's something wrong with our system if we didn't find them guilty. In every trial surrounding a heinous crime, the defendants are always guilty. Even Perry Mason knew that! And with the defender of freedom itself, the US, telling us there's something wrong with our justice system, we'll just have to start rootin' out the problems and make sure we start getting convictions.

Anyone else think there's a problem with Canada even considering taking away its citizens' Charter rights in order to "save us from terrorists" on the advice of the US? Creepy. Let's make sure Harper is booted out of here as soon as possible. If he gets a majority, we're going down the tubes like never before.