Category Archives: justice

One more down. Now arrest the rest of them will you?

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I have to give CPS a giant thumbs up for the professionalism and patience they displayed while arresting this very uncooperative criminal squatter at Olympic Plaza.

We can see what strategy remains to these desperate and dwindling squatters. They have lost all credibility with Calgarians over the last month with their actions from flag defacement to defecation in the park to stealing electricity from Calgarian taxpayers. Now these guys simply hope to get arrested so that they can play victims.

The squatters had better hope that when their much overdue mass-arrest arrives that they are better actors than Ms Scout in the video below as she unconvincingly pretends that she is being harmed while she resists arrest. As is noted in the Herald and seen on the video, the officer could fit a finger within the handcuff and Scout’s claims of bleeding were simply bull.

Kicking, screaming and whining our occupiers shall go. I expect they will be arrested sometime this coming weekend after yet another Canadian judge affirms that there indeed is still no Charter right to squat in a park. They likely will follow Scout’s example through resisting arrest and then falsely claiming brutality. The truth has never really been a goal with the “occupy” Calgary squatters.

Something that really demonstrates the disconnect from reality that the squatters and their few supporters have is the fact that it was squatter supporters who posted this video. They really think this video will earn them sympathy and that it displays police brutality.

Below is a quote from “occupy” Calgary representative Brent Talbot speaking on their facebook group. He implies that Scout was racially profiled and was “brutely” arrested for no reason.

Brent Talbot :
I am calling for a movement of our Occupation to CPS as we just had one of our members racially profiled and brutely removed for sitting quietly and having a conversation. We have had a constant presence of Bylaw and CPS, since we’ve been under media blackout!!

Again total departure from the truth. Sarah Scout had existing warrants for her arrest for some prior offenses. She then gained herself an obstruction charge for refusing to give her name to a peace officer (likely to try and hide from her arrest warrants) and then she topped it off with the charge of resisting arrest which we can see is well justified in the video.

There is no “media blackout” either. There simply has not been much of note to cover aside from there still being squatters polluting and damaging our park. That can only be repeated so many times as we wait for the city to gain the courage to evict them.

It is long overdue that we scrape the remnants of the occupy movement from our park. We can see that these illegal squatters will resist but what other course have they left us all?

Thieving squatters!!

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Well the City of Calgary keeps giving them inches and the squatters keep taking miles (as can be expected).

Despite every other major city in Canada having gotten rid of their squatters (with no Charter problems), Calgary officials are still completely terrified to enforce our bylaws.

Well, emboldened by the lawless state that the city has granted them the “occupy” Calgary squatters have now taken to stealing our electricity.

In the discussion from their facebook site below, we can see them happily bragging that they now have hotplates and heat in their little illegal camp in Olympic Plaza.

The squatters destroy the bathroom at Olympic Plaza, the City gives them porta-potties on the taxpayers (though the squatters still poop on the ground).

Now things are getting cool out, so the city is turning a blind eye while the squatters steal electricity from us.

How much was your electric bill last month? Perhaps you should send it to Nenshi and say you are expressing yourself thus are entitled to free power on the taxpayers.

We won’t enforce bylaws. How about criminal laws then? Theft is still a crime is it not?

Just because it is there, it does not mean that one can simply take it. By that logic they can begin to steal and sell park benches and other fixtures simply because they were not fastened down securely enough.

In the discussion below, it can be seen that a couple of them understand that this is wrong. Most appear happy to continue to steal from Calgary taxpayers however and clearly will continue to do so until the law is enforced. That is the nature of their blind entitlement.

It can be seen in this discussion that the squatters had already had one problem when they tried to steal power from Teatro restaurant before.

Is it enough for law enforcement to move in yet Nenshi? Chief Hanson? Do they have to begin stealing from our very houses next?

The transcript below is directly quoted from the Occupy Calgary Facebook organizational site.

Henyk Szydlowski
WE HAVE ELECTRICITY AT THE CAMP!!! HOTPLATES, SPACE HEATERS, (electric)BLANKETS, GLOVES, HOT MEALS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED AND APPRECIATED. BRING A PAINTED STONE, FAKE FLOWERS, HOLIDAY LIGHTS, ANYTHING.. LET’S MAKE THE PARK BEAUTIFUL FOR FRIDAY AND SHOW THE PUBLIC WE AREN’T ANIMALS… ? LOVE YOU ALL ?
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LikeUnlike · ·Unfollow PostFollow Post · 4 hours ago near Calgary

8 people like this.

Henyk Szydlowski bump
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Rob Green bump?
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Mandi Schrader:
How did you get electricity?
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Loading…

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Henyk Szydlowski:
they tuned it on.. for the cristmas lights and decoration.. they are aware that we are using it and haven’t batted an eye lash.
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Loading…

Rob Green what’s bump?
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Mandi Schrader:
Bump means you have no comment but want to push the post higher on the page.
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Kym Chi:
Is the christmas tree still there?? Please place notes of wishes and hopes for a better world on it 🙂 ? It will go well with the new christmas theme of the park!
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Loading…

Christopher Fox McMillan:
In really hope we’re not taking it without paying, cause thats stealing, and one of the things that got us into trouble with Teatro a few weeks back
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 3Loading…

Michael Belanger:
If anyone has talked to any city worker on this and has contact info where we could send funds to….not be stealing….I’m all for pitching in some change 🙂
3 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike · 2Loading…

Mandi Schrader:
I thought Teatro agreed to provide power?
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Henyk Szydlowski:
?Christopher Fox McMillan, officers of both cps and bylaw have seen us using it and said nothing of the like. As well, 95% of the city’s electricity comes from wind farming south of the city.. and being that we are taxpaying citizens of said city we are well within our rights to use what’s there.. it would be absolutely stupid not too.
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Henyk Szydlowski:
Let not turn this into some silly semantic argument.. we are cold hungry, now we have means to cook and stay warm SAFELY!!
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Loading…

Henyk Szydlowski:
?+ they can’t file ANY new evidence on damages and costs because the matter is already been filed.. so chances are they will simply just say whatever.. they aren’t bothering us at all anymore because they’re sure we’re out on friday.. enjoy the moment.
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 3Loading…

Ben Kendrick:
?90% of calgarys electricity come frim oil and gas not wind. Nice idea though.
3 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike

Nicole RunningRabbit:
Exactly, Henyk. to finally have some human rights to running water in the bathrooms during park hours, power for heaters & cooking fresh food & keeping surfaces disinfected w/hot water & bleach is a MIRACLE.

Please don’t rain on our parade today.

People @ camp deserve a break.

i Love You, my dear occu-sisters, occu-brothers, occu-lovers & occu-haters. 😉 sick in bed today & i miss You all very much.
3 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike · 2Loading…

Henyk Szydlowski:
Thank you Nicole, get well soon..! ?
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Loading…

Henyk Szydlowski bump
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Henyk Szydlowski:
Hey John Johnson, quit being a nay-sayer and let us have this one alright…
3 hours ago · LikeUnlike

John Johnson:
I nay say nay about this.
3 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike · 4Loading…

Ben Kendrick:
Hope you can keep the electricity.
2 hours ago via mobile · LikeUnlike

Christopher Fox McMillan:
I am glad we now have access to electricity thats excellent. but when people looking from the outside see us taking electricity which we aren’t paying for when we have the ability to do gives credence to their calls of get the thieving hippies out. It puts truth to their words that we are costing them money, and it feeds into the negative feedback loop that is our critics. I don’t want to give them any more firepower than they already have

Electricity is not free, it takes things to produce (whether it be windmills or dead dinosaur plants), and those things cost money.
2 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 2Loading…

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Chris A Hooymans:
Please do not waste power on Christmas lights.
2 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 3Loading…

MissConny Kavela:
GREAT NEWS!! ?
about an hour ago via mobile · LikeUnlike

Jan Bacon:
agreed, the electricity is *not* free, I will not be party to theft, even from the City. So far Occupy has done nothing illegal, just civil disobedience. I think it will just rub salt into open sores. Beautifying can be done with more coloured ice, flowers, sparkly garlands and cards and notes…etc… coming down (hugs)
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike

Ben Kendrick:
They might bring it up in court.
about an hour ago via mobile · LikeUnlike

Chris A Hooymans:
Surreptitious use to charge phones or to boil some tea would be probably be okay, but setting up a Christmas display might be pushing it somewhat.
45 minutes ago · LikeUnlike

Wendy Pergentile:
I suggest not using it unless you have permission from the City. They may need electricity there at this time, however, they may be setting you all up for more trouble.
28 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
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The outcome of appeasement.

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I finished yesterday’s rambling post by mentioning how people occasionally use the word compromise in a derisive manner when what they actually should be saying is appeasement.

 We see cowardly actions of appeasement quite often when the law and politicians are dealing with protesters of all sorts of stripes. I observed the G8 summit protests in Calgary in 2002 to observe just where the trouble stems from when these left-wing protests almost inevitably go off the rails. The police handed out brochures telling just what the bounds of peaceful demonstration are as people gathered. Ironically (as many of these protesters are self-styled environmentalists) most of the brochures were thrown to the ground and they littered the area quickly. I watched masked people lunging at a fence and lifting their masks to spit on police officers who stoically restrained themselves from retaliating from these assaults. I observed windows being smashed from legitimate businesses who were unfortunate enough to be in the path of the mob. I saw a few people arrested when their activities went well beyond the pale.

 I later read that those arrested were given tiny, token fines for their activities. In light of that, is it any wonder that these violent protests continue?

 A couple weeks ago, the kooks from Greenpeace trespassed on a Shell oilsands facility and stopped production in that section for almost two days.  The protest was ended when:

“”As long as we removed ourselves, (they) agreed to release us without any charges, either criminal or civil,” said Mike Hudema of Greenpeace.”

 OK, so these clowns broke the law, put themselves and others at risk and cost Shell untold money as production was halted. For these actions they were allowed to go their merry way with no consequences. Guess what happened?

 Yes, Greenpeace moved on and decided to block production at a Suncor facility.  In this case, the idiots actually chained themselves to a conveyor putting themselves (which is fine by me) and the workers/police (not ok by me) at risk as these twits had to be removed.

 Is this really a surprise though? The attempted appeasement at the Shell site simply told these people that they may disregard the law with impunity. They got the press they sought, they halted production and they paid no price. Of course these guys were willing to do it again. It really does not take a genius to realize that this would be the outcome of appeasement.

 The fools have indeed been charged this time at least. Twenty-one nuts were arrested and charged with criminal mischief over $5,000. It is worthy of note that only one of these kooks was actually Albertan and most of them are not even Canadian. I hope the courts press these charges to the full extent that they can. This crap has to stop.

 Further to the charges to the individuals, I strongly feel that Greenpeace itself should be sued and possibly closed down for encouraging criminal activity. Greenpeace is a multi-national corporation who had a net income of $202 million CDN in 2006. They can surely afford to cover the lost revenue they have cost while attacking these energy facilities.

 David Swann demonstrated his usual disconnect from reality on this issue with this statement:

“These are massive projects with significant potential to impact the environment and human health, and I think it’s incumbent on both government and the industry to review their security measures,” said Liberal Leader David Swann

 WOW. Talk about blaming the victim there Swann. The criminal and dangerous assault on oilfield facilities was the fault of the facility owners for not having stopped the criminals from entering. I have spent time working up there. These are facilities in isolated areas and they are well marked. People don’t accidentally stumble into them. What would be more effective Mr. Swann would be charging these fools when they purposely break the law.

 Peaceful demonstration is a vital right. We keep appeasing when demonstrators cross the line of legality though and we really should not be surprised when the lawbreaking escalates.

 There are many rational and effective environmental groups that have good points to make and are worth listening to. Greenpeace however is not one of these groups. Filling offices with fish and countless expensive and criminal trespasses do not do anything to serve the environment and the allowing of these actions must stop. Greenpeace is a large corporation and they should be held accountable for their criminal actions.

 Oh yes, and I shed no tears when the Rainbow Warrior sank.

Rainbow Warrior

 

 Compromise is finding a middle ground. Compromise is impossible with criminal extremists such as those with Greenpeace. Greenpeace seeks no middle ground, they only seek more publicity to fund their giant corporation. Appeasement with extremists like these is pointless.

Yet another pathetic deportation story.

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 Each seems to get more disgusting than the last.

 Cesar Benjamin Guzman was convicted of raping an 87 year old woman almost 5 years ago. This is not speculation. This sick sick man was convicted.

 Now anybody with a glimmer of common sense would conclude that if we can get this piece of garbage out of our country that we would do so at the first opportunity.

 Sadly(and not unexpectedly), the imbeciles in our immigration system have  decided that we should not deport this man. We should keep him in Canada and simply cross our fingers that he does not rape people any longer.

 While legitimate immigrants get deported for things as trivial as working more than one job, rapists and drug dealers get every benefit of the doubt in our system.

 One need not be a master in the study of demographics to see where this sort of trend will lead us. Canada relies on immigration and we get some excellent citizens from it. If we insist on keeping only the human filth and deporting the productive, where does this leave us?

 I propose that the people sit on these immigration hearings should have to billet the people they say are safe in our country. Will they feel comfortable with Guzman watching over their grandmother at home? Would they like to have Jackie Tran pop out for a few drinks with their kids?

 You know, I suspect that the people on these boards would answer no to the above questions were they presented to them. So in light of that; HOW THE HELL DO YOU GUYS JUSTIFY MAKING THE REST OF THE POPULACE DEAL WITH THESE VIOLENT CRIMINALS???

Insane does not mean harmless.

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 Well we got lucky this time on the violent young fellow pictured below:

Richard David Barker

 Richard David Barker went on a dangerous and violent rampage in Calgary only a year ago. The other day, his handlers thought it would be wise to take the poor boy out to the museum.Well the nut (predictably for most) took off in the van from the hospital and roamed free in Calgary until yesterday. Thankfully he did not harm anybody this time. Maybe when they give him a day-pass to Callaway park next year we may not have such luck.

 Recently Vincent Li was being considered for release. Only massive public outcry made what was supposed to be a secret hearing public. Due to the scrutiny, Li was determined to still be dangerous and will be kept in a facility. Li decapitated and ate a passenger on a bus only a year ago. He is not that old and we can rest assured that he will be walking the streets soon. The liberal fools just tried to let him out when the wounds were too fresh this time.

 I wrote not long ago about how Steven Gaeten Lee was quietly released within a year of his committing murder. 

 This trend of releasing violent lunatics into the public must stop!!

 Look, I understand that these people have been touched by the Gods and really have no idea what they are doing. There is even a tiny bit of empathy in me for their situations. That being said, they are still dangerous as hell and must be kept from the public. These early releases and this lapse security on those incarcerated has to stop.

 There is no cure for insanity. The best that can be hoped for is that medication and therapy may keep these people under control. One week away from their pills and these people can and will harm people again. I don’t care if these people live in four-star accomodations as long as they are securely locked into them.

 When will our justice system consider the protection of the innocent public as a priority?

Above the law.

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 The federal and provincial governments have long turned a blind and cowardly eye to the lucrative and growing business of smuggling across the Canada/USA border on the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve. The self-styled “Warriors” there are little more than organized thugs and they have proven themselves to be such year after year after year with their increasingly bold actions and thumbing their collective noses at the law.

 Well, recent events have demonstrated excellently how out of control these “Warriors” are and how emasculated our governments are when dealing with them.

 While most nations on the planet arm their border guards for the sake of protection of the guards and protection of the very nation, the Mohawk “warriors” have determined that any effort to arm border guards in Canada is an unforgivable affront to their rights. These domestic terrorists went straight to threats of violence and lawlessness on the issue (apparently the only means of protest that they know). 

 Here is a reasoned response from of of these “warriors”:

 “We are going to clear them (border guards) out,” said Thomas Stacy, a middle-aged former professional wrestler who stood across from the border post with a small group of young men carrying large Mohawk Warrior flags. ”

 Lets get something straight here people. These are not natives protesting for treaty rights, these are not people fighting a land-claim. These “warriors” are defending what they perceive as their right to smuggle drugs, alcohol, tobacco and masses of guns across the Canadian border without hindrance. This is not a native rights group. The “warriors” are organized criminals.

 So, with such a clear cut case of criminal activity within Canada, what do our governments do? They do nothing while our border guards are forced to abandon their posts with concern for their own safety.

 That’s right folks. We pretty much have given away one of our border crossings to organized crime so that they may continue to smuggle drugs with impunity. How sadly Canadian.

 While this would be headline news in almost any other nation, here in Canada it gets little press as the country lives in terror of possibly offending natives. Get this straight, this has nothing to do with natives. Take race right out of the issue. This is organized crime and the race of the criminals is irrelevant.

 The “warriors” will doubtless be further emboldened by this latest example of pathetic cowardice on the part of our governments. I wonder what their next targets will be? Will they take all the border crossings in Canada and begin to collect their own tariffs? Will they just outright begin to manufacture the guns that they have been selling to feed into the Toronto gang war? Anything is possible when the government clearly believes these criminals are above the law.

 This is pathetic and frightening.

Walking wallets.

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 That is sadly how the Canadian court system views men. 
 

 We have seen some insane rulings where men have lived for as little as a few months with a woman who has a child only to find themselves on the hook for child support well into the adulthood of a child that they did not sire. The shaky basis of that is that the man acted in the role of father to the child if even for a short period. In the most notable case of that (I believe it was Saskatchewan) the judge did recognize that the man had not really been acting as a father but since the biological father was incarcerated and unable to pay, the new man was therefore on the hook. Reality in circumstances has no bearing on these rulings. The goal is simply to make sure that some man, any man pays the bills.

 The Canadian courts have hit yet another low now. In two courts in Ontario, it was ruled that Rod Refcio is obligated to support the twin-children of his ex-wife who were sired well after the couple had divorced and by another man!!

 This could be written off as the judgment of one l0ony judge one would think. Sadly, this insane decision has held up in two courts now.

 The judges did realize that if these payments were actually defined as child support that the man may have a defense. Instead they stated that the man had an obligation to his ex-wife’s twins that must be paid through spousal support. The alimony that should have been $180-300 per month has been jacked up to $1500 per month with the rational that she needs the support to raise the children sired from another man.

 I don’t see anywhere why the judges did not pursue support from the actual father of the children. In light of other rulings, it can be pretty safely assumed that the real father simply has no money thus they pursued the next nearest wallet.

 To any divorced man this ruling is terrifying. This literally means we may be on the fiscal hook for any kids that our exes may produce by any man over the course of the rest of her life. This will doubtless apply to common law relationships as well.

 Our courts can’t seem to keep a repeat pedophile behind bars for more than a few days at a time yet they are incredibly effective at drawing money from innocent men who simply bedded the wrong woman at some time.

 Where will this end? How low will the bar required for support be? I fear I may let my dog play with a neighborhood kid for an hour and suddenly be on the hook for support as I had acted as a father to the kid if only for an hour. That sounds insane, but in light of these kinds of court rulings is it really beyond the realm of possibility any more?

 How do these people get on the  bench?

I won’t believe it until I see it.

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 I see in the news today that scumbag gangster Jackie Tran has been ordered deported yet again. I wrote on the Tran saga some months ago here.  

jackie tran

 How complicated is this? Tran was ordered deported back in 2004. Since then he has skipped hearings, broken bail conditions multiple times and been involved with criminal gangs in Calgary. Now I see that while Tran has been ordered deported (again) a date has not yet been set. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR????

 Tran is a high flight risk as he has already proven when he skipped out on past deportation hearings. Rest assured if Tran is convinced that he really will be put on a plane to Vietnam this time, he will disappear yet again. Canada has already misplaced an estimated 30,000 or so deportees due to our using the honor system with them.

 How complex is this? Tran is not a Canadian citizen and he is a criminal. He has had more hearings than he ever deserved. Buy a damn ticket and put this piece of crap on a plane out of here.

 Calgary has been in the middle of some ethnic gang wars for a couple years now. There was a shooting just the other day that appears to be gang related. Should we really be surprised that these wars are continuing? Hell, we don’t even have the balls in our justice system to detain or deport a piece of garbage like Tran. What do these gangsters have to fear?

 The time and resources that have been dedicated to Tran amount to a slap in the face to the thousands of fine immigrants who call Calgary home and life productively and peacefully here. Many of these people endure prejudice as fearful citizens begin to view every person of Asian decent as a potential gang member.

 It has been said before and it is worthy of saying it again. In Canada we do not have a justice system, it is an injustice system.

Cure for criminal insanity discovered!!!

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 We must assume that such a cure has been found.

 Vince Li (the nut who decapitated an innocent passenger on a bus) was found to be not criminally responsible for his act due to insanity the other day. It is hardly unexpected that Li was determined to be a lunatic. A person does not exactly need their doctorate in psychology in order to conclude that Vince Li was crazy. Of course, how many people who commit murder have all of their marbles rolling around correctly anyway?

 I do not believe in a vengeful justice system. As horrific as the murder that Li committed was, I am not one of those calling for his execution or a lifetime of daily torture in a deep hole. What I do believe though is that the protection of the public must be paramount!

 While some people are expressing shock and rage with Li’s being found not responsible, the usual hug-a-thug crowd is quick to come in and point out that Li will likely never be released back into the public. That would indeed be comforting if indeed there was any reason to believe it. Unfortunately that is nowhere near the truth in Canada’s “justice” system.

 The media did not need to dig too deeply to find a local example of an insane murder released among us with a paltry amount of time served in a nuthouse.

 Stephan Gaetan Lee

 Steven Gaeten Lee (the clearly remorseful man pictured above) murdered Steven Tavares in a Kananaskis hotel room in 2004. Tavares’ body was found to be viciously perforated by 28 stab wounds.

 Well, Lee was found to be not criminally responsible due to being insane. We were assured that he would be in an institution for a very long time.

 Steven Gaeten Lee was released last May!

 Perhaps I am being simplistic, but would it not take a little more than three years to confidently “cure” a man who is capable of committing such an act?

 We must assume that he has been cured. The institution would never have released him otherwise right? I must have missed the headlines when this cure for insanity was discovered. Criminal insanity has plagued humanity for centuries, one would think that the cure for such a condition would have been trumpeted far and wide. Sorry folks, there is no way that a person who can commit acts as Li and Lee did could ever be considered safe and stable.

 Obsessive compulsive disorders take years of treatment to bring under control (they are never cured), how the hell is murderous rampaging exactly cured?

 Li is a young man and we can rest assured that his crazy and dangerous ass will be walking Canada’s streets again.

 The benefit of the doubt is given to these killers far too often and the public is paying the price. Just ask the families of the victims that Gingras killed when on a three day rampage after being released from an Edmonton institution.

 The safety of the public must come before giving the benefit of the doubt to these nuts.

More here.

What Bronconnier can do on crime.

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 I have low hopes for Dave Bronconnier (Liberal Mayor of Calgary) doing much regarding crime in our city. As Rob C aptly pointed out in a comment in my prior posting, our Mayor is prioritizing pissing money away on grossly overpriced pedestrian bridges as opposed to addressing the exploding street violence in the city. Whether it is crime, infrastructure, housing or any other issue, Bronconnier’s response to issues has been pathetically predictable. Bronconnier whines and shifts blame to the federal/provincial governments and holds his hand out for more money much like an irresponsible teen who has pissed his allowance away on toys and now cannot afford bus fare to get to school. There has never been an indication of any initiative or creativity on the part of Mayor Bronconnier. He simply keeps spending money on idiotic and poorly managed projects, and then raises taxes upon Calgarians while snivelling to every other level of government for more funding.

 As I said before, it will take effort on the part of every level of government in order to stop this growing trend of violent crime. The criminal code of Canada is federal jurisdiction. Harper has been trying to pass justice reform to no avail for years now. Hopefully Harper indeed gets the majority required so that those reforms can be passed into law. While the proposed changes may not go far enough in my view, they certainly are a step in the right direction. The provinces are responsible for management of legal proceedings and management of correction for criminals sentenced to less than two years (a sadly large amount of sentences). To his credit, Stelmach has been speaking of pursuing bail reforms and hiring more prosecutors in hopes of cutting back on bail being granted to violent criminals. The province has some authority on the appointment of judges as well and I do hope that they begin to appoint wisely.

 In the realm of our violent and repeat offenders, sentences and parole must be addressed and that is federal turf. That the the number one problem regarding the violent crimes.

 In the city of Calgary there are many things that can be done with the resources at hand and we need not wait for federal or provincial initiatives.

 New York city in the 80s was known around the world as a haven for lawlessness and violent crime. In my youth I remember the images of graffiti strewn subway cars and gangs roaming the streets unchecked. Shootings occurred daily on the streets of New York and the city was constantly the butt of dark humour as it’s citizens lived in fear.

 George L. Kelling and Catherine Coles wrote a book called “ Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities” which expanded on an article that Kelling wrote in the 80s. The basic premise of the initiative is that urban crime needs to be tackled from the bottom up. That is summarized below:

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.

 

 The bottom line is, when there is an appearance of no pride or order, disorder will grow and flourish.

 My son works downtown. One evening not long ago I went to pick him up from work. I arrived early so I parked in a lot across the street from what is known as the “Crack Mac’s store” on 8th and 8th. I cannot count the open drug transactions and solicitations that I saw in that short 15 minutes. These dealers and buyers did not even make a token effort to hide their activities at a busy downtown LRT stop.

 With a targeted crackdown on known dealing spots such as these, I understand that crack dealing and use will not be eliminated. What will happen however is that the visible tolerance of this crap will disappear. What kind of municipal pride do we have when we let this happen right in plain sight? How many commuters choose to walk blocks in all seasons in order to avoid using that notorious train station? The simple presence of a couple police officers there would end that.

 Broken windows, graffiti, aggressive panhandlers and open drug dealing all lead to the atmosphere of lawlessness that breeds even more crime. We have lost municipal pride and it is showing on our streets.

 We need to take on a zero-tolerance approach and aspects of the “broken windows” method have proven to be greatly successful. Bronconnier’swildly overpriced, artistic pedestrian bridges will mean nothing if they are covered with crackheads and bums.

 Calgary has tried the coddling approach with our homeless drug addicts and squeegee kids. That has simply led to downtown streets crawling with bums aggressively approaching working people at all hours of the day. This keeps law abiding citizens from nearing downtown whenever possible. That leads to criminal citizens happily filling the void. This has to end. This costs us socially and economically. How does it affect investment in our city when visitors see bums on every corner, open drug deals in progress and they are accosted by beggars in our downtown? It certainly does not encourage people to invest or relocate their businesses into our city.

 Getting back to New York, when Rudy Giuliani became mayor, he expanded the “broken windows” method to the entire city as it had shown great success in New York Transit already. Zero tolerance was implemented along with a “compstat” program that helped police track crime and vandalism trends.

 The outcome of the New York initiatives speaks volumes. In the last 12 years in New York violent crime dropped 75%. The murder rate in New York dropped to levels not seen since 1963 and now ranks with Boise Idaho for murders per-capita. In a city the size of New York this is astounding.

 The “broken windows” method is no panacea and not every initiative can be directly applied in Calgary. It sure as hell would be a beginning however.

 Perhaps Mayor Bronco could redirect some officers from setting up speed traps in our myriad of construction zones with no workers into having them crack down on the open drug dealing, vandalism and bums in our city center. Unlike Bronconnier’s other “initiatives” it would not cost tens of millions and I bet the results would become apparent within months.

 We need to fight violent crimes on all levels. There is a great deal of power in the hands of Calgary’s city hall should they choose to actually exercise it. Blaming the federal and provincial governments is not an excuse.