The Globe: Make them pay! Lock them in jail and throw away the key! Punish the criminals! Getting tough on crime has become a Canadian obsession. The Conservative government has made introducing ever harsher crime legislation core to its brand. The opposition NDP and Liberals, trying to side-step a wedge issue and not wanting to be branded as being "soft on crime," have (with a couple of notable exceptions) supported the Conservative crime legislation every step of the way (Conservative rhetoric about Liberal senators aside). And it's hard to blame our three national political parties for chasing the elusive tough-on-crime rabbit down the hole. As pollster Frank Graves told this site yesterday: "It is increasingly perilous for a politician to be caught on the wrong side of the 'tough on crime' debate, even if their policy position is more rational."
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