Seaga's absence of logic

The Editor, Sir:

As with so much of the writings of former prime minister, Edward Seaga, once you get past the avalanche of statistics and the seduction of scholarly presentation and get to the kernel of what he is saying, you are confronted by a maze of contradictions of which he seems blissfully unaware.

His latest advocacy, as a crime fighting tool, for his beloved Charter of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (which, as other countries such as Canada have found, merely transfers ultimate lawmaking power from elected members of parliament to unelected judges) is another case in point.

As he correctly points out, after the 1980 escalation in murders to 983, during the 1980s under his administration murders subsided to an average 450 per year without the benefit of a state of emergency. For this he should be applauded. But he cannot be applauded for his assertion that this was due to 'injustice' subsiding during the 1980s when he presents not a shred of evidence to support this.

Injustice

Without breaking stride, he then asserts that the way forward to reduce murders from 1,600 plus a year is to enact the charter. But just as there was no state of emergency and no evidence presented of 'injustice' subsiding when the murder total was halved in the 1980s, there was no Charter of Rights then either! So how on earth will the waving of this magic wand - the Charter of Rights - reduce murders? The illogic is breathtaking.

I am, etc.,

ERROL W. A. TOWNSHEND

ewat@rogers.com

Ontario, Canada