If Stats Canada Is Right Then Those Impacted Is Miniscule

Is a person any less dead if murdered by a 14 year old as opposed to a 90 year old?

Vladimir Ilyich Harper TheStar.com - Federal Election - Vladimir Ilyich Harper

September 24, 2008

Thomas Walkom

The unusual aspect of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's crime platform is not that he wants to put 14-year-olds in jail for life. Those who have been paying attention know that his Conservatives are apoplectic about young offenders.

Rather, it's his willingness to campaign front and centre on a promise that – to many voters – seems positively medieval.

It wasn't that long ago that Harper replaced justice minister Vic Toews with the smoother Rob Nicholson. Toews' sin was that he was too straightforward about his hard-line views on crime and punishment, at a time when Harper felt this wasn't the image he wanted to project.

But now, Harper is confident enough to let voters sense the metaphorical leather jerkin beneath his cuddly, blue sweater vest. The dungeon-master is ready to punish, and he doesn't care who knows.

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