WHEN JUSTICE BETRAYS THE PEOPLE

By Dale Jodoin Columnist                                               Compassion must protect victims, too. Immigration is not the enemy. The real fear is losing our culture, our laws and the right to expect justice. People are not necessarily afraid of immigration. They are afraid of losing the country they grew up in. And perhaps the greatest threat is not arriving at our borders. Perhaps it is sitting in our legislatures and courtrooms. Before somebody shouts racism, consider what culture means. It is our laws, freedoms, traditions and the belief that everyone deserves equal protection. Our grandparents fought two world wars defending those freedoms. Immigrants came here seeking them. So why do so many people question whether governments still protect those principles? Look at England. The Rotherham scandal exposed the sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 children between 1997 and 2013. Investigators found that some officials feared being called racist for identifying offenders' ethnic backgrounds. Children suffered while authorities failed to act. Where were the politicians? Where was the protection? And who was answering to those children? That is what happens when protecting an institution's reputation becomes more important than protecting victims. Now consider Canada. In 2022, Parliament passed Bill C5, expanding access to conditional sentences, including house arrest, for certain eligible offenders. Supporters argue that rehabilitation matters. Fair enough. But victims matter too. Imagine being assaulted, threatened or robbed, then discovering the person responsible may serve a sentence at home. What message does that send? Not every offender deserves prison. But every sentence deserves an explanation. Judges must follow the law. Politicians write much of that law. Both must answer for the decisions they make. Judicial independence protects courts from political interference. It should never become an excuse for avoiding legitimate public scrutiny. When a serious offender receives a sentence the public struggles to understand, Canadians deserve to know why. Consider California. Proposition 47 reduced certain theft offences involving $950 or less to misdemeanours. Theft remained illegal, but the penalties changed. In 2024, voters approved Proposition 36, increasing penalties for some repeat offenders. What about the small shopkeeper facing repeated theft? The employee losing a job? The family losing its business? Who speaks for them? Compassion for offenders and people struggling with poverty matters. But what about compassion for victims? And this brings us back to immigration. Nobody should abandon their ancestry, religion or traditions to become Canadian, British or Australian. But everyone, whether born here or arriving yesterday, must respect the same laws and freedoms. We cannot blame immigrants for decisions made by politicians and judges. Nor should governments dismiss legitimate concerns about public safety as prejudice. Canada has many cultures, including those of Indigenous peoples and generations of newcomers. Our shared responsibility is to protect the rights of everyone. I do not have all the answers. But I know this much. Politicians should have to defend the laws they pass. Judges should have to explain the sentences they impose. And victims should never feel forgotten. A government that demands respect must first earn the public's trust. A nation does not lose its identity when strangers arrive at its door. It loses something far more precious when its own government forgets who the law was written to protect.