On CBC News: Your Turn this evening, we asked viewers what the most effective way to deal with crime is, and which party is doing the best job of assuring us they will tackle the problem. House arrest, recidivism, conditional sentencing, and the declining crime rate versus the rising violence among young people, what’s your position? It’s Your Turn.

John Muise, director of public safety for the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness joined Suhana in studio to discuss the matter, during which time viewer Marc Mauer from Washington called in to question whether the U.S. having 3 million people in prison actually makes them safer.

On the campaign trail, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the party that is toughest on crime would be the party toughest on environmental polluters. NDP Leader Jack Layton criticized the Conservatives' softwood lumber plan, while Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe criticized the Tories' plan to jail offenders as young as fourteen and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion discussed how his party would keep communities safer.

The phone lines lit up as usual, and we heard from Sarah from Dauphin, Man., who said we should be proactive, not reactive, about dealing with crime, and Bill from Whitecourt, Alta., said from family experience that prison does not teach people anything.

We also included a new feature where we whip through callers at the end of the show called Quick Turn. Tonight we heard from:

— Amy, who said the new crime legislation pandered to the politics of fear.
— Tony, who said jails are perfect for criminals.
— Michelle, who said the issue is a multi-level problem, and individuals, families, schools, communities and society needs to work together.
— Ken, who said root causes need addressing, and kids who find opportunities for success early on don’t turn to crime.
— Barry, who was grateful we live in Canada where the crime rate is lower than many places around the world.
— Amy, who was against the idea of punishing parents for their children’s faults.

We also saw people from all over the country via webcam, including Mehdi from Toronto, a return Skyper, who said rehabilitation was the way to go. Harold for Vancouver also beamed in, putting the parents and teachers at fault.

Some emails that didn’t make it into the broadcast:

Throwing 14-years-old youth into jail as a solution to solve crime? How about reintroducing capital punishment?
— Hamid R. Tizhoosh, Waterloo, ON

Prisons should be a place of last resort where people get the treatment they need so when they return to society they have dealt with what brought them to prison in the first place.
— Chris, Belleville, ON

I believe the Conservatives are now on the right track. Ask yourself why we didn’t have swarming crimes or nearly as many young teens committing crimes in the 50’s and 60’s? Now with the Young Offenders Act the whole country knows a 15-year-old can commit murder and get three years, and half of that off for good behaviour!
— Neil Matheson, Halifax, N.S.

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Given the turmoil at home and south of the border, tomorrow night we’re focusing on the economy. We want to hear from you (or see you) wherever you are in the country on the subject of our national finance.

Yours truly,
Your Turn

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