At the recent meeting of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of
Police the federal Justice Minister Allan Rock used the podium to
attack the cutbacks of the Ontario government. He was responding to
attacks by the Ontario Solicitor-General Robert Runciman who said
earlier that the federal government had not done enough to prevent
crime. Mr. Rock suggested that if Mr. Runciman is serious about
preventing crime, "He should perhaps start at home. Rather than
worrying about what we are doing....He can look at some of the
effects in the long run of what some of his government's budget
cuts are going to have on the criminal-justice system." He said
that hacking away at "social justice" programs such as education
and child welfare will ultimately have serious consequences for the
criminal-justice system. The link between social justice and
criminal justice is obvious, he added. "Making streets safer has as
much to do with literacy as it does with the law."
Mr. Runciman angrily replied saying, "That's offensive to say
the least,...He [Mr. Rock] should always keep in mind that his
government has dramatically reduced transfer payments to the
province."
This sharpening of open conflict between the Liberals and the
Progressive Conservatives speaks volumes about how each side is
blaming the other for the consequences of the anti-social
offensive. The fact of the matter is that both are right in blaming
the other, that is, in relationship to each other. However, both
are wrong as far as the facts are concerned. Both push the deficit
and the debt as the most important issue and both are carrying out
the anti-social offensive. The fact that they are fighting each
other reflects the growing movement against the anti-social
offensive.
As the effects of the anti-social offensive extend to broader
sections of the people, there is no doubt that crime is going to
increase. If a modern society does not look after its members, who
will? Families, communities and charities do not have the resources
nor the organizing power to pool enough resources to meet the
people's basic needs. The youth especially are going to turn to
whatever means necessary to survive. Violent Bonnie and Clyde type
confrontations are going to increase as poverty reaches wider and
wider circles.
A genuinely national government in the hands of the people
would put an immediate end to the anti-social offensive to prevent
any further deterioration of the standard of living of the people.
However, the Liberal government is neither genuinely national nor
is it in the hands of the people, and the Ontario government makes
no bones about serving only those who possess wealth.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
