TOUGH ON CRIME'S COSTS

Edmonton Journal

For decades, California has cracked down on crime, punishing offenders
with textbook "tough" policies like mandatory minimums and stringent
parole. The result has been a dramatic rise in the prison population.
Today, about 167,000 adults are in jail in California. Offenders are
now being locked up at a per-capita rate well over double what it was
30 years ago.

All those prisoners have cost the state's taxpayers dearly. In 1980
California spent about $1 billion on corrections. By 2007 that number
had climbed to nearly $14 billion. Today about one in every nine
dollars the state spends goes to prisons and prisoners.

Prison expenses are cited as a major factor in California's
deteriorating finances. Legislators are now trying to push through
measures to cut the prison population.

Given the California example, it's remarkable how little attention has
been paid to the costs of dramatic changes being proposed for Canada's
penal system.

A swath of Conservative justice bills have already passed the Commons
once, despite MPs having little firm knowledge on how much they will
cost. Most bills died when Parliament was prorogued. But Bill C-25,
which will prevent convicts from claiming double credit for time
served before trial, has already been made law.

The government says that bill will cost $2 billion to implement. But
it produced that figure only after reports Parliament's independent
Budget Officer was ready to peg its true costs in the $7-billion to
$10-billion range.

That the opposition Liberals voted for that measure without knowing
how much it would cost does not speak highly of their watchdog
credentials. As for the Conservatives, they have repeatedly refused to
provide a detailed costing of their justice agenda, which includes
California-style mandatory minimums for some drug crimes. Until they
do, debate on their bills should grind to a halt.

Before Canada goes down the California road, the government owes it to
the taxpayers to show exactly what the tolls would be.