Youth Criminal Justice Act!!

As stated in the article every day, a crime is happening somewhere in the GTA: shootings, drug trafficking, graffiti.Today, youths are being arrested for a variety of crimes. The major offence in Canada is still property crimes, such as vandalism, graffiti and defacing public property. Since 1992, when it peaked at 4,000 youth for every 100,000, property crimes have been on a sharp decline. In 2006, property crimes were 2,300 for every 100,000 youth. Which was still a lot, but since there was a decrease of property crimes there was an increase of other crimes such as murders, beatings and robberies. According to a StatsCan report, violent crimes were 12 percent higher in 2006. The amount of drug crimes committed by youth has drastically increased in the past decade. Drug crimes were 91 per cent higher in 2006 than in 1997 at 6,382 per 100,000 youth.

In Ontario, there are programs called Reduce Abuse in Drugs (R.A.I.D) which can help prevent kids from committing these unlawful acts. Due to these programs, we have the second lowest youth crime rate in Canada. For every 100,000 Ontarian youth, only 5,956 were charged from the criminal code in 2006.

In order for us to aid other provinces to lower their crime rates, on April 1st 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act has replaced the Young Offenders Act. This new act implemented a policy that distinguished between indictable versus summery crimes.

Rob Nicholson, minister of justice and the attorney general of Canada states, "I believe that our youth criminal justice system must effectively hold young offenders accountable for serious crimes with meaningful consequences; instil within them a sense of responsibility for their delinquent or criminal behaviour; and give them a better opportunity for rehabilitation so that they do not re-offend."

I agree with Rob, the youth should be given consequences that reflect the amount of severity of the criminal act that the youth had committed. But at the same the government should implement programs and help sessions that can help the troubled youth and give them a sense of direction.

Feel free to state your thoughts and opinions.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GlobalVoices/article/464542

GAS PRICES ARE DROPPING?!?!?!?

GAS PRICES ARE DROPPING TOMORROW!! Oil prices have fell harder than they have in 17 years. Liberal MP Dan McTeague predicted that gas prices will drop down about 4.4 cents from today's prices. I for one am extremely thrilled to hear this. I remember the days that gas would be $89 cents and people would be nowhere near a gas station. They would be waiting for when the gas would drop down to 75 cents again. But now people are excited that the gas prices are dropping to $1.31. Gas prices are also expected to drop even more by then end of the week. This could be a turn around for a lot of travelers.

Right now, we are currently going through a recession and people are attempting to save their money however, if people are wasting a substantial amount of money due to gasoline then how are we supposed to save our money? Now if gas was cheaper and we are able to buy the same amount of money for a lower price then we would be able to invest our money for the future or even use our money for other goods and services that can potentially make our economy flow better.

Feel free to state your opinions. How do you feel about the gas prices? Do you feel that they should continue lowering their prices? Why or why not?

http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/07/15/6165751.html

Paying to keep my cellphone was less expensive than actually buying it!

Cell phone users are going to witness a change that will be affecting everyone that have contracts with both Bell and Telus. As of August 8^th 2008, Bell will start charging customers 15 cents per incoming text message, and as of August 24^th 2008 Telus will be following this fad as well. Over the past couple of years text messaging has become the new fad and has been growing immensely. People text more than they make calls now, and why not? Texting has become a lot more convenient. People are able to text during class, on the run, at libraries, at work, and in other places where it can be too quiet to use your cell phone to make a phone call.

People argue with this new charge and are very unhappy as they say that they cannot control who sends them text messages, so why should they be charged. People that even work for Bell are outraged about this new charge. And I don't blame them, people that give their number as a contact number can sometimes be sent random text messages and now people will have to pay for them.

People that are unhappy with this change are advised to switch to Rogers, as Rogers states that their company will not implement this charge to their company. Thank-god for Rogers. I am with Rogers and I never thought I would say this but I am soo happy that I swtiched from Telus to Rogers! At least I won't have to pay these ridiculous charges. I know that the NDP party has put a petition because of these charges, which I am happy to know that the governemnt is actually doing something about this issue.

Please feel free to state your thoughts on this issues, how do you feel about these charges? Do you think the governement is doing enough to see that these charges are abolished? Are you happy that at least Rogers is not following the other service providers?



http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=3f0da576-e770-4b83-a2b0-1dca17bf9f1e

Benefits of Banning Smoking?

Smoking has been banned in certain restaurants to protect the health of nonsmokers. And it seems that due to this ban there has been a recent study that not as many kids are becoming smokers. A U.S study that was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that teens in towns with complete smoking bans were forty percent less likely to become an established smoker compared to other teenagers that live in areas that have not yet implemented these smoking restrictions. It showed that in towns where smoking was banned in restaurants, only 7.9 percent of teenagers become smokers.

"These regulations are basically sending a message that smoking in public places is no longer socially acceptable," says Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of social and behavioural sciences at Boston University's School of Public Health. "I think that decreases the appeal of smoking to adolescents. Kids' perceptions of how many people are smoking is a major factor in whether they decide to smoke."

Personally I was extremely happy when the government implemented the banning of smoking in restaurants. Who wants to be eating an delicious meal and the all of a sudden smell smoke? You can even sometimes taste the smoke in your mouth. I for one cannot stand that. By implementing this ban people are able to enjoy their meals without worrying about what they are tasting. Also a lot of restaurants are family restaurants and as they do say "second hand smoke kills", kids that are inhaling other people's smoke are unfortunately having to deal with the consequences.

Reading that this ban has also reduced the amount of people, especially teenagers, that do start to engage in this habit is a very good fact to know. I am happy that less people are smoking, as it does harm you and can cause many diseases and cancers.

Really in the end people should not even need to smoke in a restaurant, they should be enjoying their meal. I believe restaurants are for eating and bars are more for smoking!

Please feel free to state your thoughts and opinions. How do you feel about this topic? Do you agree that smoking in restaurants is unacceptable?

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/456686

Big Box Stores Taking Over??

So it seems that big box stores are taking over causing small local stores to shut down. There was an article about a lady who owned and operated a flower and gift shop in Oshawa. Her business was thriving she always had the new trends and the unique flowers where you could not find anywhere else. Except this all changed when the Internet and big box stores become the new methods of shopping.

She explained her sad story of how she started her flower shop at a young age and how it bloomed into something great.

This has been a common story with a lot of local stores. They would be fine selling their goods without a worry in the world and then all of a sudden the government decides to allow a big box store to be built in the area. Most big box stores are located in rural areas as it gives enough room for them to build their huge store and an even bigger parking lot.

Although these big box stores allow customers to buy goods at a reasonably low price it sets out competition for other local stores. A lot of stores have experienced a losing many customers to big box stores which have resulted in these local stores falling into debt and soon shutting down their business altogether.

Now are big box stores really that good for the economy if so many people's business' are shutting down and causing them to go into debt?

Also big box stores are killing the environment because they usually construct their store on areas that were once filled with trees and grass. Now is that good for the environment?

Another issue is that although you can get a job very easily at one of these big box stores, the job that you are required to work is a low paying job. Is that worth it?

So really are big box stores really that good for our economy or should the government implement restrictions on this?

http://www.thestar.com/Business/SmallBusiness/article/451460

Canadian's NEED More Money after they retire!

Many middle-income Canadians are in need of a new pension plan. They state that what they have right now is not enough to have a secure life. “National pension plans provide no more than about $16,300 a year per person and only a minority of private-sector workers has company pension plans.

There is a solution that is proposed in the new paper for the C.D. Howe Institute which is that a worker that does not have a company pension plan should be able to enroll in a new national or provincial pension plan. According to The Star the way this new pension plan would work is “This plan would run parallel to the Canada Pension Plan, but piggyback on its efficient payroll deduction system. Employees and employers would opt out of the plan if they wished, or make whatever contributions they wished up to current limits.”

I think that this is fairly reasonable since not everybody does work for a huge corporation or company where they will be able to have the benefit of acquiring a pension plan that is suitable for them. This alternative can give people the money that they require in order to live a secure lifestyle.

Please feel free to state your thoughts on this! Do you agree? Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not? Is that enough money for someone to live properly? Do they deserve more?

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/434470