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A woman was murdered when a violent offender was given day parole. Responsibility for the decision falls on the Parole Board of Canada who ignored the warning signs of danger to the public. By no means is it story we are unaccustomed to in Canada.

What makes it different this time is the federal government has stepped in. They’ve agreed that an investigation into the practices and procedures of the Parole Board will be conducted. Not the usual kind, conducted by the agency itself where they can appease the criticism of the day by making a couple superficial adjustments, but one conducted externally where the policies that victims are made to endure stand a chance at being forced into the light.

The decision to do so was unanimous. This government whose polarity has been almost certain when it comes to issues of justice instead agreed across party lines that there is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.

But the CBC didn’t report it. The blood of the crime made their headlines, but attention to this development, the sharp end where we carve out the social standards that directly influence a victims experience in the justice system, was stopped short of.

The last CBC report about the motion was on February 4th where it focused on a Conservative MP’s unfortunate choice of wording during debate. It doesn’t report on the outcome, nor does it highlight the substance of the conversation, just the member’s mistake during it.

To what extent is the CBC allowed to determine the social value of these justice issues rather than simply purvey the information surrounding them? Is it possible that they are being used in a manner to promote a brand of politics, or to subvert another? To what degree does this suppress adequacy or fairness in the social response or outcome?

Whatever their reasons are in this case – political bias or ineptitude – the result is to under inform the public and subtly impress that these things directly affecting Canadian victims of crime don’t really matter. That the greater problem we point to does not really exist.

Make no mistake about it, this was to some degree news of national interest. And it was information supportive of the perspectives we try to carry into the light where a fair and balanced dialogue can take place. Where it can be impressed upon our law makers that how the non-offender experiences the justice system must play a role when determining these standards.

What chance do we have at success when it is the editorial determination of the CBC to leave out such substance from the equilibrium of the Canadian public?

I point to the CBC because there should be an obligation to rise above the typical partisan leanings of the media. It is funded by our taxes, yet it seems satisfied to devalue information that lends to the credence of our perspective when it enters the political arena.

It’s one thing for them to choose not to utilize their advocacy style of journalism to prop up our cause the way they do for other marginalized minorities, it is another entirely to subvert it by omission.

We can put every effort into communicating our problem to the people who make the laws, but when the media norm is to trim the news that legitimatize our position, to what extent is it turning us into a political liability to the those we seek to be heard by?

The barrier we have to overcome only becomes greater.

When these justice issues are watered down, obfuscated, or ignored entirely by the media, whether its in spite of the relevance or because of it, the result is to usher those most impacted by crime to the back of the bus, and to continue to allow the ones whose mandate is justice and public safety to skip the fare.