“In a new report, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says the government’s recent legislation to restrict pre-sentence jail credit will extend the average prisoner’s sentence by about 159 days. It will also add 4,000 more inmates to the federal prison system, according to the report…
More prisoners, longer stays and the resulting increase in operations and maintenance costs will add $1 billion a year to the total expenditures on correction in Canada, the report says.
In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the budget across federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions is $4.4 billion. By fiscal year 2015-2016, that total will rise to $9.5 billion.”
I have a solution that will lower costs AND reduce crime: Bring back caning! Unless somebody is a career criminal or violent offender who needs to be kept off the streets for 5 or more years, caning is a much better alternative to locking people up. It is far cheaper than feeding and sheltering a prisoner, and is as much or more of a deterrent than jail time. It is also much more satisfying for the criminal’s victims.
Just imagine if this guy had been caught in a bait car. I’ll bet he’d think twice before stealing again!
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November 11, 2010 at 9:46 am
Mathieu
Here is an idea. Canada needs to invest a whole wack of money for his sovereignty over the Arctic. Why not build a prison over there where long-sentenced criminal would do unpaid work for their country.