Hug-a-thug policies fail. The Trudeau Liberals gun control policies have failed. It’s time to abandon “catch and release” policies and return to the traditional principles of policing espoused by Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing. Sir Robert Peel introduced the “Bobbies,” to London, England back in 1822, by promising that police would honour the basic rules of fairness. According to Sir Robert Peel, the police need to share the responsibility of policing duties with the public, not act as an occupying force. For the good of the community, the police should work with the residents, encouraging them to help in protecting public safety, not just impose dictates from Ottawa. The RCMP has abandoned Sir Robert’s Peel’s principles.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Swapping Public Safety ministers makes no difference. Replacing Marco Mendicino with Dominic LeBlanc changes nothing. Ministers must do what Trudeau and his progressive cabal of advisers tell them to do. The same organ grinder continues to call the tune so switching monkeys makes no difference. Trudeau has no respect for traditional Canada so the Liberals will continue to oppose the gun rights of Canadians.

Hug-a-thug policies fail to protect innocent Canadians

The Trudeau Liberals are playing politics with the police and the law and doing so undermines Canadians safety. Favored groups are treated with kid gloves while normal people are considered to be public safety threats. Thanks to Liberal catch-and-release policy, violent crime has increased 30 percent since Justin Trudeau was first elected PM in 2015.

Since 2015, the homicide rate has increased 32%, while firearm homicides have almost doubled from 181 to 343. According to StatsCan, in 2022 Canada’s homicide rate is the highest since 1992. Police officers are being murdered in the line of duty at horrifying rates. These gruesome increases are driven by gang-related killings.

Cracking down on law-abiding PAL holders won’t stop or even slow down “gun violence.” Smuggled guns drive violent crime in Canada. According to Toronto Police Inspector Norm Proctor 97% of crime guns are smuggled into Ontario. Toronto Deputy Chief Myron Demkiw testified earlier that 86 per cent of crime guns were smuggled into Canada.

Instead of centralizing power in Ottawa, which assumes Ottawa knows best, the solution is to unleash individual freedom. In the US, citizens are trusted to protect themselves and their neighbors, but not in Canada. Thanks to the Second Amendment, Americans can arm themselves for protection. Ottawa prefers victims to responsible citizens. Bill C-21, which further criminalizes law-abiding citizens, is in the Senate and is expected to become law in 2024, given the large numbers of supine Senators appointed by Trudeau.

Not content with bringing in increasingly restrictive regulations, in the past few years, the Trudeau Liberals have destroyed the shooting sports by prohibiting and eventually confiscating more than $4 billion worth of firearms. In 2020, hundreds of thousands of firearms with a total value of more than $3.0 billion were prohibited. In 2022 the Trudeau government out of the blue decided to have a “national freeze” on handgun sales, prohibiting the legal sale or inheritance of almost all handguns and requiring them to be surrendered without compensation when the owner passes away. Another billion dollar’s worth of firearms lost.

Hug-a-thug policies are stoking criminal violence

Bill C-5, passed in November 2022, scrapped mandatory minimum sentences, for 13 firearm offences and all drug offences, opening the door for smugglers.

• Robbery with a gun
• Extortion with a gun
• Reckless discharge of a firearm
• Drive-by shootings
• Shooting with intent to endanger a life
• Using a gun in commission of a crime
• Illegal firearm possession
• All drug crimes including smuggling

By Bill C-75, the Trudeau Liberals made it easier for criminals to get bail.

By Bill C-83, the Liberals made it easier for serious, violent criminals, like Paul Bernardo, to move to a medium security prison by requiring the least restrictive conditions as part of the jail conditions.

The Liberals push hug-a-thug polices because they claim “systemic racism” affects Black, Indigenous and marginalized Canadians and leads to over-incarceration. For example, in 2021, Indigenous Canadians are much more often (11.8 per 100,000 Indigenous people) than are non-Indigenous (1.3 per 100,000 non-Indigenous) to be accused of homicide.

This is flawed thinking, however progressive. Such policies may keep “racialized” thugs out of jail, but they don’t protect victims. The victims of Black, Indigenous and marginalized Canadians are more likely to be Black, Indigenous, or marginalized themselves. Indigenous Canadians were six times more likely to be murdered than non-indigenous, according to StatsCan (9.2 per 100,000 versus 1.6 per 100,000) in 2021. Most victims know their killer. The problem isn’t systemic racism, but violent criminals. Prison may not rehabilitate violent criminals, but it keeps them off the streets and protects victims.

The problem is not “gun violence;” it’s violent criminals

Murderers are aberrant. It is true that most murderers are men (over 80%), as are most murder victims (75%), but few men are accused of murder (around 4 per 100,000). According to Statistics Canada, almost two-thirds (62%) of those accused of homicide have a previous criminal conviction as do most homicide victims (54%) in 2020. Most murder victims (82%) know their killers – typically criminal acquaintances. Killers are not normal people.

Sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs

We’ve seen Ottawa’s failed approach to dealing with social problems. It is time to return to Sir Robert Peel’s notion of policing. The responsibility of policing duties must be shared with the public. The police should not act as an occupying force. For the good of the community, the police should encourage residents to be involved in helping protect public safety, not just impose dictates from Ottawa.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there are just victims and criminals. But there is another category: guardian. A common way to phrase this is the famous trichotomy: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. Guardians act as the sheepdogs for society. Behind the scenes a variety of guardians are continually acting in a healthy society.

Certainly, the police, firefighters and military are important guardians. But there are many kinds of volunteers who unofficially act as mentors, guides, or guardians:

• Volunteer first responders who fight fires, deal with rural crime and road accidents;
• Priests, ministers, rabbis, and other spiritual leaders;
• Armed citizens who deter crime and protect others;
• Firearm safety instructors, scout leaders, youth sports volunteers;
• First Nations chiefs, and sponsors in Alcoholics Anonymous;
• Parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and others.

Such people play important roles in society by guiding or protecting vulnerable people, such as children and latté sippers.

For the good of the community, the RCMP should return to Sir Robert’s Peel’s principles and start trusting civilians, perhaps by re-arming police auxiliaries.