Athabasca County has announced a push to tackle unsightly properties, but has made it clear that it wishes to educate people whose land is in disarray before laying down the law (to the tune of up to a $10,000 fine or jail time).
One has to wonder if this “education before enforcement” approach could be used elsewhere.
An Athabasca RCMP member recently remarked to an Advocate reporter in light of a rash of theft-related arrests that, in his experience, crime rates go up when convicted criminals from the area are released from jail.
There’s something wrong with that picture.
If jail is not the deterrent it is meant to be, a more well-rounded approach involving education and other supports should perhaps be revisited in this province. The fact that Edmonton’s only open custody home for female young offenders was closed this year, meaning vulnerable offenders will now be moved further from family, schools and other educational supports, should be alarming to us.
Education cannot replace enforcement, but the two should work in tandem wherever the law is concerned.
