The Slow, Steady March of Canadian Progress Zzzzzzzzzzz...

There is a theme in today's posting.

The theme is TIME.

Sentencing, foreign doctors, extradition of killers - in this sleepy hollow we call Canada everything takes time. Lots of time.

Sentencing: BC Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan is to be thanked and congratulated for sentencing Dennis White to 16 years in prison for shooting and killing Lee Matasi. "The unlawful taking of a life is always an attack on the community and its values."

The judge said his major considerations in this entencing were retribution, denunciation and deterrence.

How long has it been since we heard a judge extol these notions?

The Premier has pulled one of his classic spin jobs in saying that the province will look at why we appear to be the most lenient jurisdiction in the nation when it comes to sentencing. But in the next breath he adds that this is really a federal matter. in other words, he will do nothing.

The good news, however, is that this is the second major sentence handed down in one week that actually reflects the community's real values.

We can only hope that this is not a statistical fluke, but a trend away from the light-headed bull that has prevailed in out courts for far too long.

Foreign doctors: And nurses and teachers. For how many years now have I been broadcasting and writing about this disgrace? Perfectly capable, well-trained profesionals are coming here from all over the world and being denied entry into their fields of expertise. They are sorting fruit and vegetables at the local market, cleaning buildings and driving cab.

The reasons have been clear and obvious and identifiable from the beginning.

Entirely to blame are the so-called "professional" orgnaizations - the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons, the College of Nurse, teachers, engineers, belly dancers...

They are all guilty of the worst obstructionism.

Now, today, the Sun editorial covers this as if it is news. They say that Premier Campbell has told these self-protecting groups to knock it off and qualify and soon as possible all those apple-picking doctors who are clearly qualified.

So far so good.

Will I live to see this change? Stay tuned. And don't hold your breath.

And by the way, where are the doctors, foreign-or-Canada-trained who are specializing in geriatrics? We have an aging population and very few new doctors are interested in the time-consuming focus on the elderly.

Extradictions: It only took about five years of legal haggling and much tax money, but we finally put a Nazi war criminal on a plane for Italy where he can face the people who have already convicted him of crimes of atrocity.

We are so nice to monsters.

Maybe next to that Nuclear Free Zone sign that we put up on Highway One some years ago, we could add one that reads, "Nice to Monsters."