Aug 12
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CHP Canada – Communiqué Vol 19, No 35 * August 28, 2012
An Adequate Deterrent
By Jim Hnatiuk, Leader of the Christian Heritage Party
It’s difficult to imagine that any sane, or insane person for that matter, could systematically bomb, stalk, shoot and kill 93 people, most of which were teenagers at a summer camp. Then for the perpetrator to have the audacity to tell the court, “I wish to apologise to all militant nationalists that I wasn’t able to execute more.”
I find it equally difficult to imagine that a country’s maximum allowable sentence for such a crime or for that matter a crime unimaginably greater is simply one of imprisonment for a period between 10 to 21 years. Surely the courts of any country should be equipped with legislation to hand out a verdict of a much greater deterrent.
The Norwegian courts do not; last week, gunman Anders Behring Breivik, who committed this unthinkable crime, was handed down the maximum sentence of 21 years imprisonment. Sadly, even if this atrocity had happened in Canada, our courts would not be able to do much better, as our maximum sentence is simply 25 years. Yes, there are all kinds of provisions regarding parole, serving concurrently in the case of multiple murders etc., but my point has nothing to do with that. My point is: where is the deterrent?
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada is the only federal political party that advocates the return of the death penalty should special circumstances come into play.
The CHP’s criteria for the actual application of capital punishment carefully preclude the execution of an innocent person: it requires the testimony of at least two credible eye-witnesses, plus the unanimous agreement of all 12 jurors and the trial judge that the crime is so heinous justice can only be served by the ultimate penalty. None of the celebrated cases of people wrongly convicted (e.g., Milgaard, Marshall, Morin, Truscott) could have been sentenced to death under CHP criteria.
Lastly, as CHP Canada’s national Leader, I will allow, within our party, a “Freedom of Conscience” vote. That would ensure that every CHP Member of Parliament would always be free to speak and vote according to the biblically-informed dictates of his or her own conscience on any matter brought before the House of Commons, including difficult issues like capital punishment. Unlike other major parties, there will be no whipped votes in the Christian Heritage Party.
With a CHP Government, would-be mass murderers would have to consider the possibility of the death penalty, the families of victims could expect to see punishment that fits the crime, the courts would be equipped with adequate legislation meant to protect the innocent and deter evildoers and we would have safer streets. By providing a significant deterrent, we would need fewer prisons. In addition, our Members of Parliament would be entrusted with the freedom of conscience to represent their constituents and exercise their own moral beliefs, not be forced to toe the party line as so often happens today . The majority of Canadians—peaceable, law-abiding citizens—would rejoice to see justice restored, the innocent protected and the guilty held accountable. Our current system is a joke but nobody’s laughing.
The reason every reasonable person knows 21 years for mass murdering all those young people and the others, is just wrong, is because sane persons know the victims were real people and NOT the state. If it was a crime against the state then maybe 21 years is a bit harsh, but it wasn’t against the “state.” He killed people, he didn’t burn down some stated owned trees or buildings or sell national secrets.
Every day a murderer like this continues to breath and receive special privileges like a private room,TV, exercise equipment and special protection from the general population is another day the victim’s families are victimized by the the guilty and the state. In situations like this the process needs to be fast tracked so the guilty is removed from this earth in a timely manner and not in ten years or more while enjoying all the appeals.