Some Of This Better Be True

 UPDATED AND BUMPED:  Well, it looks like # 3 is on the list for this fall's sitting of parliament:

Conservatives to table controversial crime laws early in agenda

Leftards are already howling:

"Opposition parties are expected to strongly argue against the legislation — noting that Statistics Canada has found that there is a consistent downward trend in violent crime.

Moreover, they will argue that the Tories are leading the country toward a massive societal shift in which prisons are overcrowded and costly — an experiment they say has proven disastrous in the United States."

These would be the same people that howled about the Tories intention to spend more money of expansion of our prisons. Deeeeeeelicious!

"Overall, the new measures coming forward this fall will include ending house arrest of criminals, ending automatic pardons for serious crimes, cracking down on organized drug crime, protecting children from sexual predators and strengthening citizens powers to defend themselves and their property."

Hallelujah!!

"In the memo distributed to caucus, the Tories were provided a list of figures about what police reported in 2010:

• Over two million crimes in Canada, including 440,000 violent crimes.

• 225,000 assaults, 22,000 sexual assaults, and 17,000 assaults against police officers.

• Over 1.3 million property crimes, including approximately 200,000 break and enters, 92,000 motor vehicle thefts, 90,000 frauds, and 12,000 arsons.

• Approximately 85,000 cases of impaired driving.

“These are just the crimes that are reported,” said the memo.

“In 2009, Statistics Canada reported that 1 in 4 Canadians reported being a victim of crime. However, only 31 per cent reported their crimes to police. “

“Quite simply, people are not reporting to the police that they are a victim of crime. More needs to be done.”"

Tories to toughen penalties on serious crimes

"While it’s not known for sure what measures will be in the legislation, it could include adult sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes, expanded surveillance powers for police, curbing house arrest for property, and ending pardons for serious crimes."

[---]

"“By moving quickly to reintroduce comprehensive law-and-order legislation, our Conservative government is fulfilling its promise to better protect families and stand-up for victims.”"

You see, dingbat leftards. It's not the crime rate that is the issue with those of us on the conservative side of the great divide. It's the justice system. You know, what happens to the criminal element after they are arrested for a crime. Sheesh, you people are dumb. But that's good. Watching you squirm and howl will be great entertainment.

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The majority is in the House: Top 10 things to watch as Parliament resumes

With the opposition in disarray, I see no reason why Harper couldn't implement several small "c' conservative initiatives, but somehow,....I'm not holding my breath

Of the ten, I'm hoping:

1) The economy will continue to improve.

2) The NDP will flounder under Turmel and not find a leader worthy of the name come March 24th.

3) The overhaul of the criminal justice system will be swift and thorough. Lord knows, it's long overdue:

"Correctional Services Canada's budget has shot up to $3 billion from $1.6 billion in 2007. More than 4,000 staff will be hired and 2,700 spaces added in prisons. Police ranks increased to 69,299 in 2010 from 62,461 in 2006. The number of crimes reported to police in 2010 was the fewest since 1973."

Gosh, that couldn't possibly be related, could it?

4) The real story here, IMHO, is Canada is in the process of restoring her military capability. The Libyan dictatorship is only one of several locations where conflict between the West and Islam's Hydra (combatants motivated by both religious and secular ideologies) can be expected. It is the "cold war" of my children's generation, which, like the one that spanned my life, will blow both hot and cold, and we need to be there and we need to be prepared. I'm hoping we'll see more from the Harper government that will prepare us for that role.

5) I really don't care about the gun registry issue. Perhaps some creative solution will be found to address the rural/urban divide, though, but with a substantial majority in both chambers, it's unlikely the Cons will even be looking for one. Or maybe the omnibus crime bill is the place to look. Anyway, meh. Who cares?

6) Copyright reform? Another "Meh. Who cares?"

7) Democratic reform? Long overdue, and who cares what Quebec says. They're response will be the predictable whine and threaten with hand outstretched. This time, hopefully, no one will be dropping the spare change into that hand. If they do, look for a resurgence of Western separatism. Politics in Canada will get interesting again.

8) The cross-border security thing is interesting only in that it shows how the real pull and influence on Canada's economy and identity is no longer Britain, but rather the USA. That so many north of the 49th continue to whine and howl about our "sovereignty" is a joke. They frame their arguments as though any trade with the largest single economy in the world is a loss of sovereignty. What a farce!

And the privacy thing? Who cares? This obsession with privacy is waaaay overblown.

9) Supreme Court appointments? Again, opposition members are whining because they won't be able to put activist judges on the bench. Apparently, that's a privilege only for Liberal governments. But look what Harper is promising:

"Harper says he will chose "very carefully," and look for people with "strong, independent legal minds.

What to expect: Once the appointments are made, they might appear before a parliamentary committee."

Appearing before a parliamentary committee? Sounds too American for most of the whiners. You can be sure they see the writing on the wall.

10) A "Strategic Operating Review"?

"On the chopping block are countless government programs, thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in spending.

What are the facts: This fall, out of sight of parliamentarians, cabinet ministers and their senior bureaucrats will work in the background on a major deficit-cutting plan to be unveiled in the 2012 budget. Treasury Board President Tony Clement leads the internal search to find $4 billion in annual cuts from government programs. No one knows yet where the cuts will come, but all departments and agencies have been told to submit two scenarios: How they would achieve a five-per-cent and a 10-per-cent budget cut."

Bring it on!! Look for cushy Liberal Party favourites to be slashed, or perhaps, disappear altogether. CBC first, of course. And 2012 is not that far away. Start your letter writing campaign. Harper and crew need to have their feet held to the fire.