Stephen Harper’s ‘tough-on-crime’ laws are more misguided than ever

More Canadians are realizing that crime is down and want the federal government to focus on prevention.

For 20 years there’s been a troubling disconnect between the reality of crime in Canada and people’s fear of it. The persistent — though mistaken — view that crime is on the rise has allowed governments to push through ever more “tough-on-crime” laws.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have taken this to extremes. The omnibus Bill C-10 before the Senate right now will foist enormous and unnecessary costs on taxpayers.

Yet in reality violent crime is down. Property crime is down. Other crimes are down. Crime is at its lowest since 1973.

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This is from an editorial in the Toronto Star.  Tom