Vancouver Province
for May 26, 2000

I'm keenly disappointed in the Reform cum Canadian Alliance Party. I voted for them and supported them in 1993 and 1997 because they expressed the version of the Canadian union I could support. Of the two conflicting visions of Canada – the "two founding nations" theory and the ten juridically equal provinces theory - the former is historical nonsense while the latter reflects what actually happened in 1867, is what BC accepted when it joined Canada in 1871, and is the vision that the Reform Party unequivocally supported. While I've always expressed concern about the Reform Party's social stance, I thought that the passage of time would bring a dilution of the "redneckness" that so troubled me. Well, it clearly hasn't. In fact, it's much worse.

The Trott case has placed the Canadian Alliance's social position into clear view. A young man, a victim of fetal alcoholism syndrome, is accused of killing a nine year old girl and it transpires that he was released by the court a few days before a psychiatric report would have been available.

A review of the case shows that the report was not ordered for the purpose of giving a complete evaluation of accused but by the defence to help the judge in sentencing him for stealing a car and assaulting his girl friend's mother, an assault which the mother candidly admits was minor shoving. It's important to note that on the record before the judge there was no serious violence and none at all towards children. It is also clear that the accused had spent almost four months in custody waiting for this report, about the time that he could expect to actually serve as a sentence. The judge refused to wait another 12 days and sentenced him to the time spent and ordered him to seek psychiatric help.

A couple of phone calls enabled me, within a few minutes, to determine that this happens all the time. There simply aren't enough facilities or resources to handle these sorts of pre-sentence reports and judges routinely pass judgment without them for otherwise the already clogged system would become choked with cases awaiting the arrival of pre sentence reports and would mean that people charged would remain in custody long after the time they would normally serve for the crime committed. I also easily determined that the type of assessment on men like Trott is not geared to predicting future behaviour but to giving the court guidance as to what sentence would be appropriate in the particular case. I also learned that while Fetal Alcohol Syndrome does bring with it a tendency to violence that it isn't usually extreme violence but a tendency towards heightened irritability. Moreover, and this is critical to this case, it is utterly unwarranted to assume that Trott's report would give any indication whatsoever that he was about to strangle a nine year old girl (of which he stands accused) and that even if it did, there was nothing the judge could do except sentence him within the guidelines Parliament has set in the Criminal Code of Canada for stealing a car and a minor assault.

John Reynolds, Alliance MP, did none of the routine investigation that was there to be done. No … he instantly blamed the judge and without any idea of what had happened, called for her immediate suspension. He ranted on about how little Jessica Russell would still be alive were it not for this judge.

Of course, this was typical Reynolds stuff. Play to the cheap seats, to the bottom feeders who can't wait to jump to the nearest anti-authority conclusion. If you believe that refugee claimants ought to be denied due process of law, that flogging may be an answer to 21st century crime, that the marketplace on its own will handle the problems of poverty, and if you deny that much of the court's business is treating mentally ill people that the state is unable to deal with, then John Reynolds and the Canadian Alliance are for you.

The Liberals are for Central Canada only, so are the Tories – what little is left of them. The NDP is hopeless. What to do? Damned if I know. Just spoil my ballot? Maybe.

But if John Reynolds is what the Canadian Alliance is all about, this bunch is not for me.