Columnists

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

We have fewer criminals, but are building jails

Posted: 08/6/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

THE prison population in Canada is expected to grow by more than 30 per cent in the next few years. Ironically, this is not because the crime rate is increasing. The crime rate is actually going down. It is because the federal government has concluded fewer people should spend more time in jail so that it can appear that Stephen Harper's Conservatives are getting tough on crime, as they have long threatened to do but were prevented from doing by their minority status.

Now they are majority and in a parliamentary democracy that means they can do pretty well what they want. The widely held suspicion is that the government wants to build mega-prisons to house our dangerous offenders such as serial killers and occasional recreational marijuana growers, teen-aged car thieves and violent rapists.

Related Items

Columns
- The world has forgotten what happened in Babel
- Kill yourself if you must, but don't make me help

The Conservatives deny they want to build mega-prisons, but they are intent on doing everything else by legislating minimum penalties for various crimes, some of which, such as drug use or drug sales, do not even need to be crimes at all. Were those activities to be decriminalized, it would open up a host of prison cells for the rapists, the muggers, the serial killers, all the violent criminals who need to be behind bars.

That, of course, would require a minimum of common sense from our legislators, and that is apparently too much to expect. So instead of mega-prisons -- politically unpopular -- we are going to get mini-maxi-prisons built inside minimum and medium security institutions such as is now planned at the Stony Mountain Institution. About 2,500 mini-max cells are planned in correctional institutions across the country at a cost of almost $2 billion.

When you add to that the fact it costs well over $100,000 a year to keep anybody in any kind of jail cell for any sort of offence at all, that's a pretty expensive prospect for a war on crime that we seem to be already winning without it.

Mexico offers a better deal to the Americans that we could probably get as well. It will take our shoplifters, our weed smokers, our teen-aged joy-riders, our rapists, wife-beaters and serial killers and, for about $20,000 per con per year, lock them up in jails that will truly teach them they don't want to ever go back. That's cheap at twice the price if we don't care what happens to these people anyway.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 6, 2011 J2

Fact Check

Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.

* Required

In which story did you find the error? *
Please post the headline of the story or the title of the video with the error.
What was the error? *
Please post exactly what was wrong with the story.
What should we have written?
Please indicate your source for the correct information.
Who else should we interview to improve this story?
Please include any contact information you may have.
Can we contact you in the future for advice on stories about this topic?
Yes

No
First Name: *
Last Name: *
E–mail Address: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Phone: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Colour:
Are you blue? If you can see this, leave it blank and get some CSS support.
Enter the words that you see: * This is to prevent our forms from being filled out automatically.
You have failed to correctly identify the words in the box above. Please try again.

More Columnists

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.