Focus on criminal rehabilitation: reader
Posted Jun 3, 2010 By Emile Therien
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Tweet ThisDear Editor,
Despite the report of the House of Commons Public Safety Committee which recommended that the Harper government should refrain from shutting down the country's six prison farms and hire independent experts to study the impact of the closures, a spokesperson for the Public Safety Minister says the government has no intention of changing its mind and will not reverse its decision.
In effect, the government will ignore the committee's report.
No logical explanation/reason has ever been given by this government to justify the closing of the six prison farms across the country. And many of the statements made by government spokespersons, including the Public Safety Minister, beg scrutiny and clarification! No audit/ evaluation has ever been conducted as to the viability, financial and otherwise, of these farms.
That said, Corrections Canada acknowledges that this program benefits the inmates who participate in it.! A case in point!
According to an expert source, the Frontenac Institution farm is recognized as having a dairy herd that ranks among the best in Ontario.
Regarding the current state of incarceration in this country, the Minister of Public Safety should refer to the 2005/06 report of Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers, the government's independent prisons investigator.
He says program shortages are so severe they have become a threat to public safety: "Too many offenders spend their time in prison without getting the correctional programs they need", the report says.
"The result is ongoing violence and despair on the inside and increased risk of individuals re-offending once released." This is, in 2010, still a very real problem. Rehabilitation is hardly a priority!
And this Minister wants to eliminate a program that works! First things first Mr. Minister! Fix this problem. Listen to the experts!
Or is this another case of this government shamelessly plodding along, cheered on by its core political base lead by the Public Safety Minister and the Justice Minister, in perpetuating myths that contrary to the facts and the record, crime is out of control in this country and "certain types of criminals cannot be rehabilitated".
Simply stoking the ideological fires to justify its tough-on-crime policies...and get re-elected. Crime as politics with no financial or social accountability! Political opportunism at its worst! Go figure!
Emile Therien
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