Moving Forward: Chapter 1 (Dog, Environment, Prisons).

Legislation that needs to be lobbied for in TnT.Note: This is not intended to be ‘draft legislation’ but rather points that should be addressed.My outlined suggestions as they stand, a(n);

 1. Dog Regulation Act: 

(i)To require dog owners to have a licence to own and to breed dogs (for the purpose of sale especially). Renewal on a yearly basis.

(ii) Dog owners being made accountable for the actions of their dogs i.e. criminal liability if they maul someone or destroy property or worse due to negligence of the owner. This includes not following leash/mussel laws and having proper fencing in the yard the dog is being kept. 

(iii) Protection of the dogs themselves as a standard of living will be required for them and inspected regularly (on renewal of the licence especially) to ensure that the space, food, and general conditions are acceptable and consistent with keeping a healthy dog.

(iv) Provisions for the keeping and handling of a dog being clarified, events occurring when specifications are meet would not carry criminal liability. (End of the debate on what happens by law when a bandit jumps in your yard).

2. Environmental Protection Act:(i) Restriction of building of large properties on what is classified as "grade 1" (the most fertile) soil. People are buying land and building (some of the purposely) on soil that is valuable agricultural ground.

(ii) Strict monitoring of fishing areas and possibly an end to the completely "open season" on fishing. Some bays have been completely fished out already and the problem is only getting worse as over fishing needs to be curtailed. 

(iii) Stricter penalties for those found hunting outside of hunting seasons.

(iv) Wildlife conservation centers/zoos. 

3. Prison Reform Act:(i) Self-sustaining prison program. Have the prisoners trained and made responsible for the daily running of the prisons. This will seek to teach prisoners to be more disciplined, as well as lowering the cost of running prisons. 

(ii) Chain gangs being established for petty offenders. To reduce the burden of the state on programs such as CEPEP by having the prisoners who are not violent offenders organized into chain gangs under guard who can fulfill the duties such as cleaning the roads.

(iii) A prison education program. Offering education from primary to tertiary level (including trade skills), with the chance of a reduced sentence based on behaviour and educational qualifications earned. (credit to Phillip Alexander for the last point of prison reform. Having a discussion with him about the issue he was able to convince me of the merits of and importance of this).

Paul-Daniel Nahous