Editor: Re: Chronic problem, Feb. 12 Can you actually save money by spending more? No, it is impossible.
I am disappointed by Delta police Chief Jim Cessford's defeatist attitude to recidivists by shifting this menace to the health authorities.
This province is currently spending over $16 billion on medical services and a mere $1.1 billion on the justice system. Federally, $2.3 billion is spent on penitentiaries. So how do we reduce justice expenditures by raising an already gargantuan health budget? Of course there should always be collaboration between police and the community to control these offenders. However, at some point, the law must be enforced and criminals punished.
Unfortunately, Cessford would prefer to maintain order rather than inculcate respect for the law.
I think many - not all - mental illnesses are falsified and likely induced by drug consumption. The pioneers of Canada never complained about their mental condition spending their whole lives attached to the land (and there was no scourge of dangerous drugs back then).
Mental illness and drug addiction seem so pervasive in modern society that it tends to be an affliction of affluence. Its treatment has become a perverse industry.
What about the victims of these recidivists? I guess defeatists like Cessford would prefer they stay silent and learn to appreciate the "context" of the harm done to them while criminals are rewarded for breaking the law with therapy.
There is no such thing as crime prevention. It has become an excuse for doing nothing and permitting lawlessness.
Compassion is not infinite.
Steven Austin
