Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth (Image Credit: Flickr / Province of B.C.)

By Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: NDP answers just as bad as their inaction

Oct 20, 2022 | 10:14 AM

AFTER MANY MONTHS OF QUESTIONING by the opposition on their lack of action to tackle rampant crime in our communities, you would think the NDP government would have sharpened its messaging and come up with some better answers by now. Yet week after week, they seem to outdo themselves with answers that simply boggle the mind.

After previously stating that “simply arresting people out of the situation, we know, is going to be futile,” this week Attorney General Murray Rankin shocked the public even further when he said, “random attacks, we learned, are a fact of life.” They most certainly should not be a fact of life, and the guy in charge of legal services in this province shouldn’t be peddling this nonsense. What he should be doing is taking significant action to stop the repeat offenders who are carrying out many of these random, violent attacks.

Our opposition caucus has suggested several key steps he could take. He could issue a directive to Crown prosecutors to keep dangerous offenders in custody. They have been used in the past and, in fact, six months ago our critic for Attorney General, Mike de Jong, drafted one up for Rankin’s predecessor, former Attorney General David Eby — with a reply that the government would “consider” it. Six months later, with the work done for them and in their hands, they have still failed to act.

We’ve made other concrete suggestions, including a significant increase in investment in the prosecution service and a dedicated Crown counsel to focus on violent prolific offenders. We’ve asked them to review and change charge assessment and full disclosure policies; to implement more Community Courts across the province, which began under the BC Liberals; and to give the forensics division the resources they need to process evidence faster and address delays that can take as long as 18 months. There’s been no movement by the NDP government on any of these ideas either.

So what does Minister Rankin say they are doing? He and Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth flew to Ottawa to let the federal government know repeat offenders are a problem, and guess what, folks? They secured a follow-up meeting.

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The time for meetings and reports and delays is over. Crime and social disorder have spiralled out of control under five years of this government, and people cannot wait any longer for action. With concrete suggestions by the opposition in the NDP’s hands, there’s no excuse why the government can’t act today to keep prolific offenders behind bars rather than causing more chaos in our neighbourhoods. When will this government put the rights of community safety ahead of a criminal’s right to reoffend?

The tragic death of a Burnaby RCMP officer on the job this week is another reason why people just don’t feel safe on our streets anymore. A trained police officer, part of her detachment’s mental health and outreach team, taken far too soon. All British Columbians have been shaken by her death and I send my deepest condolences to her family, friends, police colleagues and all those touched by her tremendous kindness and compassion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.