Ford’s court and prison focus is all wrong

When Doug Ford tried to get out of jury duty — and earned himself a lecture on the rule of law, March 12

At least Premier Doug Ford is consistent in having no use for the legal system or balancing public and private matters. Why is anyone surprised by his viewpoint that people charged are already guilty? He is consistent in his contempt for law and favouring one set of citizens over another. Why would anyone, or any business, come to Ontario knowing that if they find themselves in court, the judges are “like-minded” with him. Whatever Ford may be, he is not progressive and certainly not a democratic conservative.

Premier Doug Ford has said he will build as many prisons as it takes to cut down on crime in Ontario. In other words, he’s going to pursue a get-tough-oncrime approach that has failed repeatedly. If only politicians would show that kind of dedication to dealing with the causes of crime, rather than very expensive and ineffective reactions to it. Crime is often a result of mental illness and drug addiction. I knew a young man who had psychological problems that led to drug dependency. It caused considerable trouble and distress in his family. He wanted to get help for his drug problem but the programs available through private institutions were too expensive for him. Publicly funded drug treatment programs had a waiting list of over a year. He had not committed any criminal acts, aside from buying illegal drugs such as fentanyl, but his addiction was causing him problems at work. If he had lost his job, who knows what he might have turned to in order to pay his rent and buy narcotics? His family will never know, because one night the fentanyl killed him. Maybe, instead of pouring money into prisons, Ford should be thinking about the root causes of crime. Undoubtedly, investing in programs to help people fight addiction would reduce crime and save lives.

Ed Butts, Guelph