OTTAWA — In the world according to Stephen Harper, it has become something of a political maxim that when the going gets tough, the Conservatives get tough on crime.
Seems just about every time the Harper gang needs to get out of trouble, it offers up some new piece of lawmaking that promises to put the bad guys behind bars.
Gunslinging always seems to please the Conservative core.
It is certainly came as no surprise, therefore, that the prime minister’s latest round of Senate appointments he once promised never to make came wrapped in the Conservative flag of law and order.
So here I am, a public offender, sitting at my kitchen table, slurping a double cappuccino, reading the morning paper, when suddenly I come across a story that confirms the federal government's intention to introduce mandatory minimum sentences.
Well, now, that makes me think twice about my chosen profession, doesn't it? I guess I'll cancel next week's home invasion. And I won't even think about that bank heist next month. Does anyone know a good career counsellor?
The Harper government would have us believe that most violent criminals are a calculating, coolly rational bunch sensibly persuaded by legal edict to change their ways as one might change one's socks. Curiously, a growing number of Canadians concur.
Benedikt Fischer, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, has just co-authored a new book evaluating current marijuana prohibition systems -- and considering alternatives that might actually work.
Last February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his government's new anti-drug strategy. It amounted to a number of stricter penalties, including mandatory jail sentences for conducting large-scale grow-ops and an increase in maximum prison terms from seven to 14 years.
As the Prime Minister knows from last year's anti-coalition campaign, online activism can be a powerful political tool
By. David Eaves, Globe and Mail
Over at the National Post, Matt Gurney recently stated that "Facebook groups are just about the dumbest way to advocate a political cause." His comments echo those of a number of pundits and politicians who give online activism – and Facebook groups in particular – short shrift.
For a variety of reasons online activism is discounted as not being “real” politics. Well, Facebook isn’t going to remake politics, but it does matter – something the explosive growth of the 150,000 person (and rising) group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and the first anniversary of the anti-coalition Facebook campaign offers us a chance to reflect on. So here are three lessons on online activism for the Prime Minister, the news media and the rest of us.
In a political maneuver designed to shield his embattled Conservative government from criticism during the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper on December 30th "prorogued," or shut down, Parliament until a new session begins in March. The move kills all pending legislation, including a Tory "tough on crime" bill, C-15, that included mandatory minimum nine-month prison sentences for growing as much as a single marijuana plant.
Proroguing parliament is not a routine move, but this is the second time Harper has done it in a year. Last December, he did it to head off a looming vote of no-confidence, with a coalition of New Democrats, Liberals, and Bloc Quebecois looking to replace his Conservative government. Now, he says he is doing it to introduce a new budget, but the maneuver also kills all parliamentary committees, including one looking into allegations Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan turned detainees over to Afghan authorities who abused them. That inquiry has raised embarrassing questions about Canada's policies in Afghanistan.
Even Afghanistan, where Canadians are dying, has a parliament that's open for business
By. Rick Mercer, Globe and Mail
There's a very good reason why the word prorogue doesn't come up that often in our society. Why would it? The word has absolutely no resonance with anyone in Canada because the notion that you can shut down anything for months at a time is a total fantasy. That's the thing about life; it's relentless. If you are an adult and live in the real world, proroguing isn't on the agenda, in much the same way levitating isn't.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an interview Tuesday night with the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge that the Liberal-dominated Senate has been blocking Conservative government legislation.
“We obviously can’t get our legislation through,” Mr. Harper responded when asked why he has reversed his decision not to appoint Senators. “What the Senate is blocking isn't just government crime legislation, it's blocking Senate reform legislation.”
Well, no.
The Senate may be blocking Senate reform legislation – that’s a matter for debate. But it is not blocking crime legislation.
Today, Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to “prorogue” (end the session of) Parliament. This means that all the bills are dead, C-15 included!
Had it not been for the hard work of everyone in lobbying the Senate, C-15 would have passed into law. That's right, we campaigned politically and won! C-15 has been stopped!
The Parliament will resume in March, and we can assume Stephen Harper will reintroduce C-15 in some form shortly thereafter.
We can not stop now! We must continue to build so that when C-15 comes back we can face it with even greater numbers and more intense campaigning.
Jacob's note: The Canadian Armed Forced have been involved in opium and hashish production arrests, so some of these detainees that were tortured may have been simple Afghan poppy farmers, not enemy combatants.
Government was told detainees faced 'extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial'
By. Paul Koring, Globe and Mail
The Harper government knew from its own officials that prisoners held by Afghan security forces faced the possibility of torture, abuse and extrajudicial killing, The Globe and Mail has learned.
But the government has eradicated every single reference to torture and abuse in prison from a heavily blacked-out version of a report prepared by Canadian diplomats in Kabul and released under an access to information request.
With remarkably little debate, the Conservatives have pushed through major changes to the justice system in the name of being ‘tough on crime.' But legal experts say it all could lead to a U.S.-style future of bursting prisons and cash-strapped courts – without making us any safer.
By. Kirk Makin, Globe and Mail
Tough, uncompromising and characteristically in high dudgeon, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson makes a powerful salesman for a government sworn to stop mollycoddling criminals.
Welcome to WhyProhibition.ca. We are working to repeal the prohibition of cannabis by organizing and educating the public. Sign up to get activism alerts, and access to organizing tools.
By 
Moncton Times and Transcript
By. CTVBC
As the Prime Minister knows from last year's anti-coalition campaign, online activism can be a powerful political tool
from Drug War Chronicle
Even Afghanistan, where Canadians are dying, has a parliament that's open for business
I have some great news! C-15 is no more.
Jacob's note: The Canadian Armed Forced have been involved in opium and hashish production arrests, so some of these detainees that were tortured may have been simple Afghan poppy farmers, not enemy combatants. 
With remarkably little debate, the Conservatives have pushed through major changes to the justice system in the name of being ‘tough on crime.' But legal experts say it all could lead to a U.S.-style future of bursting prisons and cash-strapped courts – without making us any safer.
