According to a Statistics Canada report in Manitoba last week, there was a 32.9% increase in the number of people given conditional sentences (house arrest) in 2004/2005. This comes after the Manitoba Justice Minister has publicly stated that conditional sentences don’t work. It’s one thing to bash conditional sentences and it is yet another to follow up words with actions. How can our Manitoba Justice Minister not be in favor of conditional sentences one week, and then next week sit back and let them happen. Justice is not about press releases and smiling for the camera, it’s about taking real action and backing up your words with action – something we have seen little of from our Justice Minister in this Province.

Bob Morrison, a senior Crown Prosecutor in Manitoba called our Justice Minister and the NDP “soft on crime,” and last week, confirming that statement, it was revealed that tens of millions of dollars in court related fines have gone unpaid. This is a clear sign that criminals have no respect for Manitoba’s Justice System. It’s clear that fines in the court system don’t mean much to those who are receiving them – this is why people don’t follow their probation orders or curfew orders. It’s time our Manitoba Justice Minister comes clean with Manitobans – it’s time for him to back his words up with action. Not do to so would mean that our Justice Minister’s words are hollow and meaningless.