A Brief Comment by Doug Draper
Aren’t we Canadians nice? Aren’t we now?
When it comes to white collar crime which, by the way, is known to do far more economic damage than a two-bit thief steaing some gum from a convenience store (not to condone that), we Canadians couldn’t care less.
Lord Conrad Black’s U.S. mug shot from 2005. Canadians could hardly wait to welcome him here.
I’m sure more than a few of us have waited more time than it took Black to clear Canadian customs to re-enter the country at the Rainbow or Peace Bridge crossings, and with fewer questions than we often get about “who owns the car” we are driving, where have we been, what did we buy, why could we not have bought it here in Canada, and on and on. And most of us, I would presume, have passports proving we are Canadian citizens and have no criminal record!
Yes, that’s right. We are being treated as if we have possibly committed a felony for spending a few hours or days across the border in the U.S. … And we are Canadians and we can prove it with passports or nexus cards. And once again, most of us have no criminal record! What is so bloody annoying is that border officials, including our Canadian guys and the homeland security guys on the U.S. side of the border, know most of that information the minute them punch in our license plate numbers as we are approaching them for those interviews. I know that because, as a reporter, I have covered this stuff and border officials have told me.
Yet still most law-abiding Canadian citizens cross back into our country with an assumption that we are possible criminals and Lord Black gets between a prison in Florida, where he served time for federal felonies, and Toronto, within a matter of hours. And he gleefully renounced his Canadian citizenship a number of years ago so he could be crowned a member of Britain’s House of Lords, where he does still apparently have a citizenship card.
So why didn’t he go to Britain? Why come back to Canada, a country he scorned for years as being a roadblock to anyone who wants to participate in unfettered business enterprises. At the same time, he talked about how much better it was for business bosses in the United States, so why didn’t he just decide to stay there after he got out of jail this May 4th..
But at the end of the day, Black must know how receptive we as a country are to almost anyone who is or was a corporate big shot in this country. Goodness know that the likes of federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, the MP for Niagara Falls, Ontario, will stomp on a petty thief in a moment, throwing them in jail under new mandatory sentences, but couldn’t give a flying fig about white collar criminals.
And most Canadians, it seems, are okay with that.
(Niagara At Large invites our readers to share their views on this post, remembering that we only post views by individuals who are also willing to share their real first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
How come the executives that created the Wall Street,disaster and sent the whole world economy go into a tail spin and looted millions in illegal bonuses get off scott free, and get to keep their jobs , and bailed out by the taxpayers?.the bigger the crime the bigger the bonuses, Connie Black is an alter boy by those standards, I thought Canada recognized dual citizenship,.the leader of the NDP has French and Canadian citizenship.his crime taking money out of the corporation without permission and lying to the courts.Conrad has given his pound of flesh. served without complaining. Paul Bernardo’s wife got a better deal.He does not represent my poltical views , The Steven Harper and friends will take care of their own.he is their family.
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Well doesn’t he just look like a little ray of sunshine in that photo. Strange enough, we weren’t good enough for him a few years ago. Now we’re his buds. He does whatever he wants without compunction. That’s the way these elite operate and they protect each other. I don’t care where he was born of if he has a home in the Bridal Path, he renounced his citizenship to bolster his already immense ego and is now a convicted criminal. He did his time, so what? Why doesn’t he go to Britain since he loves it so much more? Others would be denied reentry. Furthermore, did he renumerate his victims for their loses? There are always victims in white collar crimes, just not as obvious. He could sell a few of his little shacks. Staying in a cushy prison for a while (I’m sure it wasn’t Guantanamo) does nothing to compensate the people he screwed and will no doubt screw in the future. Crime does pay…at least for some.
It seems the punishments for various crimes are often so random the Judge must pull them out of a hat.
I wonder if the Canadians who are blinded enough by his glow of “celebrity?” to want him back feel the same about Omar Khadr coming back. His family are all advocates of terrorism and do nothing but run our country down from under their bags. They have no allegiance to Canada either and Omar was born here. It seems there is a litlle more controversy about him but Black gets a chauffeured limousine to return and whisks through customs. Do we want Karla Homolka back? Not me. Sure Black didn’t murder anyone but if rules are broken for him, why not for everyone? What chaos would ensue. I don’t want any of them back. We have enough criminals already.
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well said., both. We Cdns are complete wusses on white colar crime. I think back to St. Catharines boy, Alan Eagleson, only being taken down by Carl Brewer (bless him) in a Boston court, because Canada could not/would not do so.
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