Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

With statistics

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, November 18, 2011 2:08pm - 24 Comments

Rob Nicholson, July 2008. “We don’t govern by statistics in our government.”

Rob Nicholson, July 2009. “We don’t govern on the latest statistics.”

Stockwell Day, August 2010. “We’re very concerned . . . about the increase in the amount of unreported crimes that surveys clearly show are happening. People simply aren’t reporting the same way they used to.”

Rob Nicholson, September 2011. “We’re not governing on the basis of the latest statistics.”

Jeff Watson, this morning in the House. “Madam Speaker, with our tackling violent crime act, measures to strengthen parole, pardons and sentences for violent criminals, funds for more frontline police and to prevent at-risk youth from a life of crime, only this Conservative government is making our communities and streets safer. According to StatsCan’s just released 2010 crime severity index, Windsor–Essex is the safest region in Canada. Among the safest Canadian communities over 10,000 people, the town of LaSalle ranks 2nd, Tecumseh 4th, Kingsville 7th, Lakeshore 8th, Essex 12th. Windsor is the 7th safest big city of 32, and topping the list of 238 safest towns and cities is my hometown, Amherstburg. Thanks to our dedicated police, strong community involvement, our government’s investments to prevent crime and tough laws to crack down on criminals, Windsor–Essex is the safest region in Canada.”

Local officials in Windsor and Essex County have cited a number of possible explanations for the recent success there, including shifting demographics, community assistance, police involvement in schools and “luck.”

Tags: Crime, crime policy, Essex County, Jeff Watson, justice, Rob Nicholson, statistics, Windsor

More by Aaron Wherry

Hester Eastman

Andrew Lang ~ “…. uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than for illumination”
http://twitter.com/Russell_Barth Russell Barth

shameless monsters these tories. they should all be thrown in jai for their deliberate attempt to increase crime and the spread of diseases. they are beasts – unworthy of the air in their lungs.

Batman Bacon

I’m not sure if you’re trolling, or just the scariest commentator on Macleans

OrsonBean

He’s the perfect embodiment of the progressive, tolerant left.

Batman Bacon

And now I’m not sure if your trolling or trying to get into a fight with the digital scary guy. The internet sure is a crazy and or mundane place!

OriginalEmily1

The scary part is that Cons never realize how absurd they sound.

neuroticdog

Probably because to their own partisans, they don’t sound absurd at all.

OriginalEmily1

LOL that’s cuz their partisans are absurd as well.

I Yearn For Reform

Amen. It’s too bad too, those reform partisans were so great until they started interacting with those wretched PCers.

OriginalEmily1

If Reform hadn’t moved to being PC, they’d still be wandering in the wilderness
I Yearn For Reform

Oh. I seem to have made a mistake. I rescind my prior endorsment of your comment. That being said, I think we can both agree that PC stood for Pretty Corrupt back in the pre-merger day.
OriginalEmily1

@@bb43254b6b95bc49276784564738a407:disqus

I’ve been both PC and Reform.

I could still be PC…but Reform is crazy.
I Yearn For Reform

Well as someone who greatly respects Manning but wasn’t really following politics when reform was big, I would be interested in hearing from an ex-reformer about why you originally joined reform and what has caused you to depict it as crazy.
OriginalEmily1

@bb43254b6b95bc49276784564738a407:disqus

I was PC for about 30 years, but as you know they were reduced to 2 seats when a woman became leader.

So I decided to try out Reform….’fresh wind from the west’ and all that. Became a riding president…met Manning etc

Found a party of crazy people. SoCred in disguise. Left.
I Yearn For Reform

What about the movement in particular did you think was crazy? Please don’t tell me Manning was crazy, the guy seems pretty reasonable in his writings!
OriginalEmily1

@bb43254b6b95bc49276784564738a407:disqus

Old Tyme Religion…evangelical tent revival stuff…that would never sell in the ROC

A vision of a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ or ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ type Canada from the 50s.

Canada as a white christian heterosexual male nation where everyone thought the same way they did….they’ve been shocked to discover it’s not true.

The kind of parocialism that comes from sitting on your back porch in Red Deer and having your buddies agree with you, because none of you have ever been anywhere else.
I Yearn For Reform

Are they’re any particular policy proposals that you feel effectively align with the personal preception your time with reform helped develop?
OriginalEmily1

@bb43254b6b95bc49276784564738a407:disqus

The party came fully-formed…there were no additions from the ‘grassroots’ in spite of all the talk.

They’ve ditched many of them over the years, but they never added anything to the original back porch vision
Yearn For Reform

Ok. What did you think of Manning, when you met him?
OriginalEmily1

@bb43254b6b95bc49276784564738a407:disqus

I liked Manning personally….very friendly, gave a good speech, genial, likeable

It was his politics I disagreed with.

Anonymous

It’s called dog-whistling.

Anonymous

They don’t govern with statistics.
They never said they wouldn’t take credit for them.

I Yearn For Reform

Excellent point! It’s like baking a cake without joy, but you certaintly take credit for the joy that comes to people’s faces after they eaten your joyful but not joyfully made cake!

Anonymous

Actually, I think it’s more like arguing that cakes are a horrible thing to eat, and then taking credit for making a birthday party more fun because you brought the cake (while simultaneously being unable to prove that you’re actually the person who brought the cake).