A letter to the editor - Cornwall Free News, on Dec 29th 2013
So the Harper Conservatives want to protect women by being harder on johns and pimps. Since when did making something illegal protect people? Murder is already illegal but it still happens. Drunk driving was illegal for a long time before we actually did something serious about it.
The Harper Conservatives merely want to feel good about illegalizing something they don’t like – prostitution in this case. The Supreme Court decided that such laws contravene a higher law of the land – the charter of rights and freedoms. So Harper uses the thin veil of political spin by calling his values by another name – protecting the victims. Human trafficking and assault are already illegal, but Harper plays to his base by focusing on johns and pimps.
Like so many “tough on crime” intentions of the Conservatives, it is all about feeling good by turning a value statement into law, and not about actually doing anything of substance.
Tom Manley – Berwick Ontario
So the Harper Conservatives want to protect women by being harder on johns and pimps. Since when did making something illegal protect people? Murder is already illegal but it still happens. Drunk driving was illegal for a long time before we actually did something serious about it.
The Harper Conservatives merely want to feel good about illegalizing something they don’t like – prostitution in this case. The Supreme Court decided that such laws contravene a higher law of the land – the charter of rights and freedoms. So Harper uses the thin veil of political spin by calling his values by another name – protecting the victims. Human trafficking and assault are already illegal, but Harper plays to his base by focusing on johns and pimps.
Like so many “tough on crime” intentions of the Conservatives, it is all about feeling good by turning a value statement into law, and not about actually doing anything of substance.
Tom Manley – Berwick Ontario
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