Was justice In a prime example of the canadian justice system, convicted child moles- ter Danny Minor received eighteen months for the sexual molestation of his three foster sons. | was present in the court during his sentencing hearing, which lasted from ten in the morning until three thirty in the afternoon. The length of the hearing was due almost entirely to the exhaustive use of precedent by both the defense and the Crown. During the hearing many interesting and notablé points were brought up by both sides. The defense noted that Mr. Minor’s ‘plight’’ had garnered many letters of sympathy in his support. Crown countered that many of the letters were undated and unsigned. The court noted that in many cases of this type the molester creates a favourable impression with his neigh- bors. Obviously, the court noted, the person who commits these acts is not going to do so in plain sight of the neighborhood. The defense then brought up the interesting argument’ that’ Mr. Minor had provided a good home for the boys. Except for the short periods at bed-time when he commited the acts, he had provided the boys with the love and affection they had never received in their natural home. : Such are the justifications made for . the sexual abuse of children. Crown noted that the boys in ques- tion are presently extremely dis- turbed. The older two boys are having problems with sexual orien- tation and drugs, and one of them has recurring nightmares about Minor being at his window with a knife. — At last, the time came for sentenc- ing. | could not restrain my shock when | heard the Judge pronounce a sentence of a total of 18 months for all three offences. It was at this point that Minor, who had shown no interest in the details of the boys present problems, broke down. A man who had been perfectly satisfied to take out his sick desires on defenceless children quailed at the thought of 18 months in a provincial prison. As Minor’s fear-crazed eyes searched the courtroom for a friendly face. and his mother broke into hysterical sobs, | numbly got up and left the courtroom with the rest of the crowd. As | bummed a cigarette off a friend | realized | was furious. This man had destroyed three boys lives, and had received 18 months. In my opinion, the only way that sentence would be justified would be if he were placed in a Federal insti- tution, with no special protection. Then let what's left of him.out in 18 months. by Clifford Almas all over this planet struggling to achieve the right to vote. _ Here in our own beautiful province of British Columbia the Bennett gov- ernment has just completed the official voter registration required under the B.C. Election Act. | was shocked to see that one of four eligible citizens is not registered. In fact, in the constituency of the minister responsible for voting rights in B.C., Grace McCarthy, one in three eligible voters is not on the list. | believe that to have 500,000 eligible British Columbians not on the voting list as of today, in the run-up to a provincial election, is a disgrace. Our enumeration procedures are insuffic- ient to fulfill the current government’s obligation to its citizenry, that is, to enable all eligible citizens easy access onto the voters’ list. | have appealed to the Bennett government to establish voter regis- @:zio booths in community centres, F libraries and shopping malls for a prescribed period of time to bring the list to full strength. As a longer term solution, | believe we should adopt some of the systems now in place in American states--sys- tems which came into existence by public demand. Several states have used their motor vehicle departments to issue voter cards to unregistered voters while they were renewing vehicle licences or registering new vehicles. For example, Arizona reg- istered 66,000 voters during the first six months of voter registration using the motor vehicle licensing and ren- ewal system. At the same time the traditional channels of voter registra- tion in Arizona remained open. B.C. could adopt such a system with ministeries that deal on a face-to-face basis with the public, such as the motor vehicle branch, Medical Services Plan and B.C. Hydro. The right to vote is precious. When that right is obstructed or made ° unduly complex, it breeds cynicism and apathy at best and frustration and anger at worst. Please call your returning officer in the provincial government section of your telephone book to get on the list. Gordon Hanson, MLA NDP Debate Leader for the B.C. 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