ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.

There is some, perhaps not enough, concern in Canada over the Homeland Security Department's proposal of promoting one policy over two strikingly different boundaries at the northern and southern edges of the United-States.

Perhaps this is a reflection of the new Homeland Security Secretary's lack of knowledge about the almost 9000 of border kilometers which separate Canada and the USA. Her naivety may be forgiven. Before her most recent appointment, Secretary Janet Napolitano was Governor of Arizona. The raging cross-border drug war between Mexico and the southern U.S. has killed an estimated 6 to 8 thousand people and threatens even the very fabric of Mexican democracy. Hold-on! Border parity may be good politics in the United-States. But before it is too late hopefully, Secretary Napolitano will learn just how bad her policy about Canada/U.S. relations really is.

Lest I digress: A-propos the violent drug wars. It is Canadians who are the aggrieved party. Members of the Los Angeles born "Mara Salvatrucha 13" Gang, just recently described as the world's most violent, have now been identified present in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. In part, authorities believe America's policy of deporting gang members from southern California has led to the spread of M.S.13 gang members to as many as nine Central and North American countries; Canada obviously included.

Homeland Security's proposed border parity policy should serve as a warning for Canada's conservative philosophy fueled sharp right turn over prisoner policies and issues involving the National Parole Board. For instance the recently introduced legislation which proposes eliminating the "two for one" practice for the jail time served by accused before their trial. Perhaps all well and good...

...But, before Canada's goes too far. Our own politicians should heed the caution of Virgina Senator Jim Webb. The Senator is in the process of introducing legislation in Washington that will create a national commission to look into every aspect of America's criminal justice system. Senator Webb argues that in the United-States the system has deteriorated to the point of being an international disgrace.

All told, about one in every 31 adults in the United-States is in prison, in jail or on supervised release. More and more of those people are getting locked-up for non-violent offenses, while dangerous gangs; like the aforementioned "M.S. 13" are besieging urban areas.

It's been noted here before, and it bears repeating: The United-States has by far the world's largest rate of incarcerations. As Senator Webb notes..."with 5% of the world's population, our country now houses nearly 25% of the world's reported prisoners." America's rate of people in jail is almost 5 times the average worldwide. It is estimated that the price to U.S. taxpayers is about $68-billion per year to finance a prison system that by about every conceivable measure cuts against the very notion that American society was founded on fundamental fairness.

It seems to me there a two lessons here: Canadian politicians need to temper their U.S. inspired notions over crime and punishment... And, the new American administration should be wary of applying flawed parity policies to cross-border issues which fly in the face of their own constitutional fairness. Fundamentally, both lessons are the same. To wit: One size does not fit all.