Ottawa Xpress
February 18, 2010
by: Sara Falconer
http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/columns/communitygarden.aspx?iIDArticle=19347

Most Canadians were less than pleased with Harper's move to prorogue Parliament - 61 percent, according to an Angus Reid poll. And according to Facebook, almost 30,000 of us now believe that an onion ring could do a better job of running the country. But if there's a silver lining to the fiasco, it's that prorogation presents a chance to revisit some decidedly questionable crime bills on the docket.

On Feb. 17, a group of researchers, prison reform advocates and abolitionists gathered in Ottawa to discuss "Prorogation as Opportunity: Proposing New Directions for Criminal Justice Policy in Canada." At least 14 criminal justice bills are currently "in limbo" as a result of prorogation, explains Justin Piché, co-managing editor of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons.

Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is also expected to announce its new major construction initiatives. The scope of the proposed expansion is staggering: 22 new prisons and 10 additions, adding close to 5,800 new prison beds at a cost of over $2.7-billion. Based on 2004-5 StatsCan reports that it costs $51,750 a year to incarcerate each prisoner, it would also mean an additional $300,148,260 a year in operating costs.

 Piché shared these findings with the public for the first time through his blog, Tracking the Politics of Crime and Punishment in Canada (www.tpcp-canada.blogspot.com). The data in his interactive map of new provincial and territorial penal institutions across Canada was painstakingly compiled over months of research, telephone calls with prison officials and freedom-of-information requests.

Although crime has actually been decreasing in Canada over the past 25 years, public perceptions of crime have been skewed since the Tories took power in 2006. "There is a general sense that crime is increasing, which is untrue," says Tara Lyons, executive director of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. "Alongside this there's also a strong belief that criminal sanctions and punishments are not only the best way to deal with 'crimes,' but the only way. As Senator [Joan] Fraser said at a recent forum, if the only tool we have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

In January, an Angus Reid survey found that a growing number of Canadians support mandatory minimum sentences, and even the death penalty. "I think it's fair to say that the Conservative 'tough on crime' rhetoric has affected these perceptions despite crime rates consistently declining," she says. "Fear is used as a political tool to push mandatory minimum sentences, for example, which have been proven to not only be ineffective, but also tremendously harmful to communities."

"We are at a crossroads," adds Piché. "With the growing budgetary deficits, cuts to government programming will be made. At the same time, we are building more prisons... We must ask ourselves how we want the money that is left to be allocated and what kind of Canada we want to build. Do we want to live in a country that constructs prisons or one that constructs schools and hospitals?"

Piché and Lyons were joined by Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, and Craig Jones, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada. If you missed the discussion, visit www.tpcp-canada.blogspot.com" target="_blank">www.tpcp-canada.blogspot.com for further resources, detailed maps and recordings of the presentations.