Kicked by the Shin

Why vote for the lesser evil?

It’s been quite a week for candidates in the Burnaby South federal by-election embarrassing themselves. NDP sort-of-leader Jagmeet Singh was baffled by a question on CTV’s Question Period about the growing Canada-China feud, Liberal candidate Karen Wang quit the race after telling people to vote for her because of her race, and PPC candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson is a candidate for the PPC.

Meanwhile, the guy running for my own party wants you to know that if you defend accused criminals in court, you’re basically a criminal yourself:

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh suggested his Burnaby South opponent, lawyer Jay Shin, had forgotten a basic principle of Canadian law after the Tory said Singh was “keeping criminals out of jail” in his days as a criminal defence lawyer.

Shin issued a press release accusing Singh of being soft on crime. The release came within hours of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing on Wednesday that there would be a byelection in Burnaby South and two other ridings on Feb. 25.

“While Jagmeet Singh has spent his pre-political career as a criminal defence lawyer keeping criminals out of jail, I have spent my legal career building Canadian businesses that create jobs and promote international trade,” wrote Shin, a business lawyer who has facilitated foreign investment in B.C.

[…]

Shin later told the NOW he wasn’t trying to discredit defence lawyers.

“They play an important role; everybody has a right to defence,” Shin said. “What I’m saying is he played that role: as a criminal lawyer, he defended criminals. That’s all I’m saying.”

Shin’s press release also said the NDP “go easy on criminals and have actively endorsed illegal immigration into our country.” 

Should Shin ever find himself charged with a crime, I trust that he will hold true to his principles, plead guilty and accept whatever the punishment the Crown asks for. Since the state is always right about such things.

I never thought an election in this country would see a worse selection of candidates than last year’s Ontario provincial contest. Sadly, I’m never pessimistic enough about such things.