Crime-fighting needs political commitment  

By Leo Knight

BY week's end, all the mainstream media had seemingly suddenly discovered that crime is a significant problem.

Since the release of the Vancouver Board of Trade's report that identified Vancouver as having the second worst property-crime problem in North America, the media seems to have clicked in.

The National Post revealed earlier in the week that organized crime is flourishing in Canada. Hmm, no surprise there to regular readers of this space. Quoting an RCMP report the Post said, "The police intelligence report presents organized crime as a growth industry often operating with impunity." Had they said "usually operating with impunity" they would have been closer to the mark.

The Post then continued all week with a front-page story every day outlining how the tentacles of organized crime reached into the airports, stock markets, the ports and virtually every level of society.

In Vancouver, all the talk shows were seized with the revelation that property crime was running rampant in this city. Not even four successive stabbings at area high schools could knock the topic off their radar screens.

By the weekend, both Saturday's Vancouver Sun and the Sunday's Province featured stories on the Hells Angels and how they have flourished in B.C. Again, no amazing revelations to those of you who regularly pause here on Wednesdays, but nice to know the big boys are catching on.

When it comes to crime - from the routine property crimes like theft from automobiles and home break-ins, to the violent world of organized crime groups like the Hells Angels - the bad guys are enjoying the haven that Vancouver in particular, and Canada in general, presents.

Let's look at the first Post story which quoted noted Mafia expert, author Antonio Nicaso. In a telling and insightful statement, Nicaso said, "The government and society is afraid of them, but they are not afraid of our government."

Pause here and think about that statement.

"I don't think we will make any progress unless we pay attention to the punishment given under our judicial system. There are many dedicated police officers trying to investigate these sophisticated criminals, but I don't see the same commitment from the political side," he concluded. In a nutshell, Nicaso has encapsulated why Canada is a haven to organized crime and why property crime is so rampant.

The criminal class, of the organized variety or the street variety, is not afraid. There are no consequences from the system for their actions. This is as true for the habitual street thief as it is for the lawyer who launders money for the Mafia.

The second part of Nicaso's quote demonstrates the other side of the problem: the lack of commitment from the "political side."

For more than a decade, our federal government has wasted billions in the so-called "Shovelgate" scandal still being investigated by the RCMP; frittered away millions in so-called advertising contracts and dubious promotional deals to friends of the Liberals. As depicted in Auditor General Sheila Fraser's scathing report, this was done under the watchful eye of Alfonso Gagliano, then bagman for the Libs in Quebec and Minister of Public Works. The resulting scandal forced Gagliano's departure from cabinet to a soft landing as Danish ambassador.

And then there's the billion-dollar gun registry folly. And there are no new helicopters for our military to replace the half-century old Sea Kings that are the first line of defence in the fight against drug and alien smuggling on our vast coastlines. In fact, to press time, what remains of the whole less-than-serviceable fleet is grounded, more than 10 years after Jean Chretien cancelled the contract for their replacements and in the process frittered away $500 million in cancellation fees.

There's a fountain in the river in Shawinigan, but no more money for the RCMP. The prime minister has two

brand new planes to ferry him around, but our fleet of C-130 Hercules planes are being cannibalized to keep a few of the transporters in the air.

The government claims they have increased the funding in the fight against organized crime by $500 million in 2002. True, the money was allocated to the RCMP over several years, but it went to a wage increase previously negotiated and to a new computer-record management system.

As Nicaso noted, there has been no commitment from the federal government to the fight against organized crime.

It is trite to say that simply a change in government will provide a real commitment to protecting the country from the ravages of crime. A change for change's sake is not the answer. No, we need to ask those who seek office what their position on the subject is. For crime is fast becoming the single biggest issue and threat to our way of life. Without commitment from our elected leaders, we will see more of the same, much to the delight of the criminal class.

(This column was published in the North Shore News on Nov. 5, 2003)