23 September 2008

Harper Crime Solution: $2.2B, 22 new jails

Good catch by the Liberals ... from today's press release:
OTTAWA—According to the Statistics Canada table cited in a Conservative backgrounder today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement that certain offenses would not qualify for conditional sentences would mean the incarceration of at least an additional 7,161 individuals.

Average capacity of a federal penitentiary in Canada is about 315 inmates...

The last new federal facility built in Canada was the Fraser Valley Institution for Women with a capacity of 50 offenders and a Capital cost of $17 million in 2004. Public Security Minister Stockwell Day recently mused about a new penitentiary in Newfoundland and Labrador at a cost of $100-150 million.

At an average cost of $100 million for a 350-inmate institution, the Conservative promise would cost $2.2 billion.

The Harpercrits wouldn't want to spend all that money on crime prevention, now would they? You know, things like passing on ONE CENT of the GST to municipalities so that they can address issues such as poverty, housing, transportation ...

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