Dear Editor:
In light of the London riots, much has been said about the snail's pace of the Canadian legal system as it pertains to the Vancouver riot. Within hours of the criminal mayhem in England, over 1,000 arrests had been made and over 100 charges had been laid.
Conversely, two months after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, not a single charge has been brought forward by the Attorney General's office (despite 37 confessions and ample evidence).
Premier Christy Clark talked tough about holding our local looters, arsonists, vandals, and violent offenders accountable. However, her post-riot photo-op holding a broom seems befitting now of a government intent on sweeping the physical, financial and political damage under the rug.
As parents and educators know, when you promise consequences for broken rules, you better be prepared to follow through with swift action. Otherwise, you lose all credibility, authority, and ultimately the confidence and respect of the "good" ones (the ones that know that "everyone else was doing it" is never an acceptable excuse).
Meanwhile, for our downtown victims, including some small, family-run businesses which have yet to reopen, we can only hope that justice delayed does not shamefully result in justice denied.
Harman Pandher, Burnaby
