In fact, with the exception of fines for driving without a licence, most penalties had no statistically significant effect on fatalities. Policy-makers may therefore wish to focus on general safety measures. Let the people judge. After two rejections by the courts, we are about to see round three of Ottawa's attempt to limit campaign spending in federdal elections. Such limits serve mainly to make it harder to unseat incumbents.
Electors know when someone is trying to buy their vote.
The recent decisions of the BC courts in the case of a man found in possession of child pornography are yet another instance of the courts flouting the wishes of Parliament. At the time, the debates on the Charter indicated judicial activism was supposed to be restrained and cautious. It has not been. The BC case is especially unfortunate, since the judge who upheld it has herself written strong decisions in favour of parliamentary prerogative. That will help the province's schools, but it does nothing to redress the redistribution resulting from the change in the education funding formula in 1995.