The purpose of any think tank, and especially here at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, is to put ideas and facts on the table for discussion and to stir public debate, all in the hope of improving current public policy or creating new and better approaches for the future. MLI’s latest True North study, Why Canadian crime statistics don’t add up, authored by former Alberta Crown Prosecutor Scott Newark, has stirred a healthy discussion in its first 24 hours in the public realm and is helping us to live up to that purpose.
The National Post, Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, Windsor Star and Vancouver Sun all feature articles today that focus on the key issue raised in the paper. Do Canadians get the facts from the annual Juristat police-reported crime study that are necessary to make informed policing and justice decisions? Scott Newark has also been on the airwaves this morning talking about the study with CFRA’s Steve Madley and he will be hitting other shows across the country during the rest of the day.
It’s never easy being the first person to raise sensitive issues, as Newark does in this paper. But, as we see from the reports today, once an issue is pulled from the darkness a discussion soon ensues. A discussion that sees a government agency involved almost immediately and that engages citizens, like Big City Lib, more readily than ever before thanks to the wonders of our digital world. Debate of topics previously considered almost taboo, can be in itself a very useful by-product of a think tank’s work and can be invaluable in informing public policy decision-making.
MLI is proud to play a role as an honest broker of ideas in support of Canada’s on-going need for informed citizens and governments.
