Clifford Olson. Just the sound of that name sends shivers up my spine. Will we ever be able to escape the terror that a man like that evokes? Not likely. Even from prison he is still terrorizing people.

Personally I am scared that someday Clifford Olson could be released from prison. Soft hearts and a liberal attitude could release that monster at some point. I doubt he is reformed yet. I doubt he ever will be. Any convicted killer whining about not being granted stamps to spread his hatered via our mail service, a murderer willing to "sell" the locations of victims graves, a murderer with a book deal? He doesn't exactly strike me as reformed or even remorseful.

Stockwell Day, MLA for Red Deer North admitted we have a huge problem here saying we "need to fix the problem." He even went so far as to suggest a solution. We need more politicians to stand up and say enough is enough when it comes to these types of crimes. We need some solutions and so far all we have is keeping them in jail for awhile and praying when they are released they are reformed. I have to agree with Stockwell Day's suggestion, let's put people like Olson in the general population. Olson wants equal treatment. He wants the privileges other members of prison society have, stamps, phone calls, parole, well let's give him his way. The catch is, he does not get to pick and choose which ones he wants, which ones he would rather do without.

Why are we protecting him? Why are prisoners like Olson and Paul Bernardo kept segregated? Is it to protect the other prisoners? NO! It is to protect these maniacs that so brutally took the lives of multiple victims. Being part of regular prison life would be the doom of these types of inmates. Even the hardest of criminals are sickened by the likes of Olson. Child murderers, child predators of any kind and rapists are the lowest forms of life. Even in prison. They can not be reformed, so we lock them up for life here in Canada. We essentially put them on artificial life support by sticking them in a prison cell. Keeping them alive for years, feeding them, clothing them and protecting them from a society they committed atrocious crimes against. They are protected in a cell getting library books and cable television and I can't let my children walk to school or play outside unsupervised. If we took them off their life support by removing them from that protected enviroment they would not survive. That is the natural chain of events. Let like take care of like. Try, convict and sentence the criminals and then don't protect them. All prisoners together and let the chips fall where they may.

Stockwell Day is right by suggesting we put Olson back into mainstream prison life. Maybe Liberal politicians don't have the nerve to bring back capital punishment so we can deal with this effectively with a justifiable punishment. Will they be so understanding and compassionate if one of these paroled multiple murderers moves in next door? What if the Faint-Hope clause works for someone who is not a multiple murderer (but just by a thread) such as the Abbotsford Killer. Maybe they just are not too concerned from there higher vantage point on Parliment Hill because they know released cons end up in middle to lower income neighborhoods. They don't move to luxury condos or five bedroom homes in the affluent parts of town.

The tragic part of any future release that a person like Olson might attain is that it would likely create another murderer. He would die by the hands of a citizen frustrated with our laws and afraid to wait for another victim. Or God forbid by the hand of a parent distraught over the murder of a child. If it happens on the outside of the prison walls then it is called vigilante style punishment. Maybe we should call it getting your due instead.

No matter what name you stick on it a lot of Canadians are tired, scared and frustrated. The present laws are not working. We need some change. We need people in Ottawa with enough guts to address this complicated issue and get back to what the people want. What it comes down to is that people do not feel safe. They are scared for the safety of the children mostly. I see it everyday when I take my daughter to school. The days of the kids heading off to school on bikes and walking with friends is all but gone. Most children are chaperoned. Stockwell Day is not alone in his thinking. He is listening to his constituents and voicing their concerns and ideas. Perhaps a few Federal politicians could try the same approach. Listening that is.

If even our politicians are feeling frustrated by our legal system, where does that leave citizen Joe? It leaves him to take care of his backyard when Paul Bernardo gets released. You don't think it could happen? Well hopefully Karla Homolka won't settle in your neighborhood then.

* Clifford Olson is in prison for life for the murders of at least 11 children and teenagers.
**Paul Bernardo is in prison for life for murder. His victims were teenage girls.
***Karla Homolka was Bernardo's wife and accomplice. She was given a deal in return for testimony against Bernardo. One of thier victims was Karla's own sister.
****The Abbotsford Killer beat two teenage girls so severely that one died. The other barely survived and was then tormented and stalked to the point she was in hiding. Eventually the killer was apprehended months later after terrorizing an entire region for months with taunting calls to the police, vandalism and threats of more attacks.

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