The Lead Now Campaign

Lead Now has demonstrated to those within the Canadian state just how to do a mainstream, national advocacy project while also including voices with more radical ideas.  And the project seems to be having some success at the government level.

Some Updates;

Senator Percy Downe posted this to his twitter account during the Lead Now senator letter campaign.



 Lead Now goes on to restate what the media have already informed us, that Senate voting on Bill C10 will not take place before February.   A move away from "the first 100 days" initially promised by conservatives.

Then as almost an after thought, Lead Now informs us that they contacted criminologists from around Canada and asked them to sign on to the open letter addressed to Senators.  Here is the list, but I see at least one name missing who should have been invited - perhaps you notice others....  Though I applaud Lead Now in all of their initiatives, a small suggestion might have been to ask members to contribute suggestions around who to contact.  I would have suggested Eugene Oscapella.

"PS - We asked some of the country's leading criminologists to add their names to our open letter asking the Senate to provide the sober second thought we need on the Crime Bill. The response was amazing. Here's the initial list of signatories:"

• Anthony Doob, Professor of Criminology, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
• Frank Cormier, Criminology/Sociology Coordinator, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba
• Gordon Darroch, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Senior Scholar, York University
• Lorna Stefanick, Associate Professor, Governance Law and Management Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Athabasca University
• Penni Stewart, Associate Professor, Sociology, York University
• Deborah Brock, Department of Sociology, Sociolegal Studies, Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University
• John Edward Deukmedjian, Ayssociate Professor, Criminology, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology, University of Windsor
• Margaret E. Beare, Professor, Law and Sociology, York University
• Marc Nesca, Forensic Psychologist, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Program, Athabasca University
• Frederick Desroches, Professor, Sociology, Criminology, and Legal Studies, St. Jerome's University, University of Waterloo
• Michael Weinrath, Professor & Chair, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg
• Joanna Pozzulo, Director, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University
• Russell C. Smandych, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba

Lead Now and "10 reasons to oppose c10"

Well the people at Lead Now and their collaborator's have managed to put together a truly national campaign which seeks to oppose C10 by putting community members on the steps of MP offices!  Its a pretty terrific approach on a number of levels.  Check out their web page at http://www.leadnow.ca/stop-the-crime-bill.  People that might not have ordinarily met have the opportunity to do so and to talk with neighbors about the issues around the law and order approach and all the nastiness that comes with it.  It gives people a chance to be involved  and to feel they have a voice.
From the looks of things the campaign was fairly successful in terms of turn out and contribution!  Whether it makes a smidgen of difference to the upper class white men in parliament ramming C10 down our throats remains to be seen, but Im not holding my breath
Now for the critical feedback - the Lead Now folks could have and should have shared all the how to materials (which they obviously worked hard on) and the materials to read and take with alot earlier.  Many of us were unable to participate or at least not to the level we might have preferred because of this.  Well learn as you go...
More concerning for me was Lead Now's decision to include "10 reasons to oppose C10" in this campaign and indeed as part of the materials to read, study and take with!@#%
Wholly shit you guys!  Did anyone even read this thing?  Yeah I agree the idea of a simple, direct article listing the top 10 reasons to avoid C10 is not a bad idea, a clever tool, but the content of this one was pretty bad and down right disturbing on a number of issues they decided to list - such as #7 "Training Predators".  Here I believe what the author is suggesting is that because C10 converts prisoner rights such as the right to be free from abuse and the right to speak out about it when it does happen into privileges by tweeking the language in the Parole and Conditional Release Act - because of this and because our jails are soon to be far more crowded than they already are, worsening conditions for those who are forced to live there and for the those working there - the prisoners are apt to return to society as predators!  WTF?
If a person did not enter the system a predator, no amount of shit and abuse is going to convert them into one!  But I guess that depends how we define predator.  Most times when this word is used it is to describe a child sex offender or a rapist.  On occasion it might be used to describe those who prey on the weaker in any form.  But I will say it again, if you were not one going in - horrific environment or not - you wont be one coming out!  What you likely will be is less able to cope in the day to day, more bitter and angry, less mentally stable or healthy, more likely to go right back to the thing which can deliver you from all those hate filled days and nights - your substance of choice and your way of getting it!  Lets not forget the vast majority of people imprisoned today are so either directly or indirectly because of substance use issues!  Not because of predatorial instincts