Experts at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy say the breakdown of families and a de-emphasis of law and order may be partial causes for recent reports of disturbing crimes..The December stabbing of two women in their 30s at a Toronto subway station added to the list of people shot, stabbed, pushed onto tracks, and even set on fire on or near transit since April. .David Leis, vice-president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, said the seeds of a bad home life are often reaped in lives of crime..“One has to always be careful about generalizations, but … every one of these incidences, these tragedies, should be cause for reflection on how we can work better at strengthening families, rather than weakening them,” Leis told the Western Standard..“Statistically, there are very strong correlations between fatherlessness and family instability and social deviance. And this is quite evident in study after study, in not just the literature, but any police officer knows this to be true.”.A fact sheet by the America First Policy Institute compiled academic findings that connected fatherlessness to crime..“Fatherless children are more likely to suffer from psychosocial development issues, live in poverty, drop out of school, engage in school violence, abuse substances, and enter the juvenile justice system,” the analysis stated..A 2022 University of Arizona study on juvenile crime found fatherless children were 20 times more likely to be jailed than children from dual-parent homes. A 2016 study of 56 school shootings found only 10 shooters grew up in a stable home with both biological parents together. Leis says the stats speak volumes..“Every school shooter in North America, there's analyses that show that they have a very damaged sense of masculinity. And obtaining a gun is often seen as a way that gave them power. And it's just very tragic,” Leis said..“About 85% of all the youth in prison come from fatherless homes. And over 60% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes. And we know that 90% of runaways, or homeless teens, are from fatherless homes. So it behooves us as a society to take this issue very seriously.”.Leis said part of the problem is a family law system “that's essentially an attack on basic family stability and against children” and “is ideologically based.” ."So much of family law is resulting in undermining and destabilizing the family, including the important role of fatherhood. If you look at custody orders, when you look at false allegations of abuse, or financial support, fathers almost always end up with the short stick.”.In a recent Western Standard article, former Toronto mayoral candidate and 30-year constable Blake Acton said the police were “handcuffed” by advocates from “the radical left” from doing their jobs effectively. The new approach means fewer street checks and turning a blind eye to illegal parking encampments..Philip Salzman, a colleague of Leis at FCCP and emeritus professor of anthropology at McGill, told Western Standard it’s hard for police to do their job effectively..“Police have been so undermined by politicians and media, and their efforts are dismissed by ‘prosecutors’ who don't believe in prosecution, that police are disabled across the board. That is why so many have quit, retired, or transferred to rural communities, and why there are no more recruits,” he said..Leis said his experience more than 20 years ago as mayor of Woolwich Township in the Waterloo, ON region, demonstrated the good results of a proactive, but positive presence for police in the community. He said the current aversion to levying consequences for crime is proving unwise..“We need to safeguard and protect people, but … if you don't have enough prisons, where are you going to send these people? That's part of it. And then if you don't have the willingness to prosecute these people, because you believe that it won't help, then how are you protecting society? So it becomes a vicious cycle,” he said..“Meanwhile, you have a philosophy that says we're about ‘safe harm reduction’ and ‘safe drug supply’ without dealing with the addictions and appropriate accountability. So, our homelessness and mental health situation has never been worse in Canada..“This should be a wake up call to pause and thoughtfully consider, is what we're doing effective? Is it working?”
Experts at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy say the breakdown of families and a de-emphasis of law and order may be partial causes for recent reports of disturbing crimes..The December stabbing of two women in their 30s at a Toronto subway station added to the list of people shot, stabbed, pushed onto tracks, and even set on fire on or near transit since April. .David Leis, vice-president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, said the seeds of a bad home life are often reaped in lives of crime..“One has to always be careful about generalizations, but … every one of these incidences, these tragedies, should be cause for reflection on how we can work better at strengthening families, rather than weakening them,” Leis told the Western Standard..“Statistically, there are very strong correlations between fatherlessness and family instability and social deviance. And this is quite evident in study after study, in not just the literature, but any police officer knows this to be true.”.A fact sheet by the America First Policy Institute compiled academic findings that connected fatherlessness to crime..“Fatherless children are more likely to suffer from psychosocial development issues, live in poverty, drop out of school, engage in school violence, abuse substances, and enter the juvenile justice system,” the analysis stated..A 2022 University of Arizona study on juvenile crime found fatherless children were 20 times more likely to be jailed than children from dual-parent homes. A 2016 study of 56 school shootings found only 10 shooters grew up in a stable home with both biological parents together. Leis says the stats speak volumes..“Every school shooter in North America, there's analyses that show that they have a very damaged sense of masculinity. And obtaining a gun is often seen as a way that gave them power. And it's just very tragic,” Leis said..“About 85% of all the youth in prison come from fatherless homes. And over 60% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes. And we know that 90% of runaways, or homeless teens, are from fatherless homes. So it behooves us as a society to take this issue very seriously.”.Leis said part of the problem is a family law system “that's essentially an attack on basic family stability and against children” and “is ideologically based.” ."So much of family law is resulting in undermining and destabilizing the family, including the important role of fatherhood. If you look at custody orders, when you look at false allegations of abuse, or financial support, fathers almost always end up with the short stick.”.In a recent Western Standard article, former Toronto mayoral candidate and 30-year constable Blake Acton said the police were “handcuffed” by advocates from “the radical left” from doing their jobs effectively. The new approach means fewer street checks and turning a blind eye to illegal parking encampments..Philip Salzman, a colleague of Leis at FCCP and emeritus professor of anthropology at McGill, told Western Standard it’s hard for police to do their job effectively..“Police have been so undermined by politicians and media, and their efforts are dismissed by ‘prosecutors’ who don't believe in prosecution, that police are disabled across the board. That is why so many have quit, retired, or transferred to rural communities, and why there are no more recruits,” he said..Leis said his experience more than 20 years ago as mayor of Woolwich Township in the Waterloo, ON region, demonstrated the good results of a proactive, but positive presence for police in the community. He said the current aversion to levying consequences for crime is proving unwise..“We need to safeguard and protect people, but … if you don't have enough prisons, where are you going to send these people? That's part of it. And then if you don't have the willingness to prosecute these people, because you believe that it won't help, then how are you protecting society? So it becomes a vicious cycle,” he said..“Meanwhile, you have a philosophy that says we're about ‘safe harm reduction’ and ‘safe drug supply’ without dealing with the addictions and appropriate accountability. So, our homelessness and mental health situation has never been worse in Canada..“This should be a wake up call to pause and thoughtfully consider, is what we're doing effective? Is it working?”
