A voice for victims Toronto Sun editorial Dec.20,2000 Ontario's Tory government yesterday announced yet another piece of "law-and-order" legislation. As Antonella Artuso of the Sun's Queen's Park bureau first reported Sunday, the new law will, among other things, allow victims of crime and their families to appear in person at provincial parole hearings - that is, to be present when the criminal who wronged them comes up for release. Right now, victims and their relatives can only have input in parole hearings by phone or in writing. Which should give you a pretty good idea of how far removed our corrections and parole system actually is from real "law and order." This new law is not about revenge or retribution. It's about giving Ontario's Parole Board a clear picture, not just of how an inmate's crime harmed people, but how his release might affect them as well. Of course, the usual suspects like the John Howard Society whined that the Tories were trying to humiliate convicts (e.g., by regulating their hair and nail length, which this law also does, apparently for hygiene and safety reasons) and allow victims to hijack the parole system. Let 'em whine. The reality is this bill will actually help restore balance to the parole process, which somewhere along the line began putting inmates' rights ahead of those of the public. As Det. Sgt. John Muise of the government's excellent Office of Victims of Crime put it: "Victims don't want a veto (on parole), they don't want to turn the criminal justice system upside down. They're just looking for a voice." A voice that has been lacking for too long. Case in point - this new law will crack down on "inmate communication" (phone calls, etc.) to stop inmates from harassing victims while in jail. For gawd's sake, how long has that been going on? Fortunately, the provincial Liberals and NDP seem to be onside for the most part. In fact, the NDP would go further and make all parole hearings open to the public - a fine idea, though we wonder why they didn't implement it when they were in charge. Still, it's good to see the opposition realizing that crime victims are the public, and the public wants more justice in the justice system. In recent weeks, Ontario has brought in laws to crack down on organized crime and to bar criminals from profiting from selling their stories. If that's a "law and order" crusade, good. We just wish the folks who bear responsibility for the most serious criminals in the system - the federal Liberals - felt the same way Return to home page