Stop spending money on pricey studies and start taking action. It's time we started getting tough on the people who commit these crimes! It's time we stand up and say this is NOT acceptable in our neighborhoods.
A local tragedy saw another Yorkton man murdered this past weekend - and for what? While official details weren't being released as of press time, rumour has it that his untimely death could have been over something so trivial as a pack of cigarettes. How truly sad. What is becoming of small town Saskatchewan? And what are we doing to reverse the trend?
I was reading an article earlier this week that said a U of R professor is getting a $1 million grant - over the next five years - to "study" domestic violence and to figure out why it happens. She and a "team" of 33 - yes 33 - other people will take the next five years to look at the needs of victims, to discover the gaps in the system and to create sustainable non-violent communities.
Violence has been around since the beginning of time and one would suspect it will continue to be around for years to come. I'm thinking we don't need a costly study to tell us that. While it's admirable the government is taking measures to protect women and victims of intimate partner violence in general (we absolutely do need assistance in this area) is footing the bill for another study the real answer?
We need to get tough on the people who commit these crimes. We need to let criminals know that they cannot, and will not, get away with these things. Stop slapping people on the wrist and get the message out there that we will not accept being named the next "murder capital" of Canada. We don't want to turn on the radio to hear about the next person beaten, the next person robbed or the next life taken, we want results. There are crimes happening now. There are people suffering abuse at the hands of their partners AND others, NOW. We have to wait five years before we can put some kind of plan into action? Spare the study money and get some support networks in place. Fund the people who already ARE making a difference, the people who know what the problems are and how to prevent them. They are out there. Give our police officers the tools and backing they need to get these people off the streets and stop relying on research papers to change the world. We know why violence happens. We don't need to analyze that. We need to stop it. We need to start protecting the vulnerable and stop coddling the criminal. End of story.
