Why isn't crime and punishment an election issue?

Once again, a walking time-bomb is released onto the streets of Vancouver.

Richard Hector Major was walking the streets of Vancouver on Saturday, a free man.

He was seen on Saturday at the Wall Centre Hotel downtown, way too close to my family and my workplace for me to remain calm.

He was kicked out of the place by security when he tried to use a pay phone inside.

But he’s free to wander the neighborhood anytime and just wait for an opportunity to do what comes naturally to him.

Why isn’t he rotting in jail for the rest of his life?

Some highlights about him from a Dec. 2 article in the Vancouver Province by Lena Sin:

Major was released from prison after serving three years for assault
and attempted confinement of a pregnant woman.

He has over 40 convictions.

Major was convicted in 1991 of raping a 74-year-old Ottawa woman
at knifepoint and beating her for two hours with her own cane.

Two psychiatric assessments at the time of his 1991 trial
described Major as a sexual deviant and sadist with homicidal
potential.

Vancouver police say Richard Hector Major, 39, is at a
high risk to re-offend.

"He poses a risk of significant harm to the safety of male and female
children, as well as elderly and adult women in the city of Vancouver."

Canada has legislation that allows criminals like this to be jailed indefinitely – the dangerous offender designation.

Major would seem to be exactly the type that this law was intended for.

So why isn’t he still in prison?

Criminals are taking advantage of our lax legal code and it is innocent people who are being harmed in the process.

There’s a federal election on - Why isn’t this issue on the radar for voters?

Do people honestly care more about a one or two per cent reduction in the GST or a hypothetical reduction in hospital waiting times than sadistic rapists and murderers in their midst?

It’s all making me very nervous.