TORY CRIME BILL GOING IN WRONG DIRECTION

Determined to pander to his political supporters, Prime Minster
Stephen Harper tabled an omnibus crime bill Tuesday that is both
unnecessary and foolish.

The bill, known as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, comprises
nine individual justice bills that died during the previous
parliamentary session because the minority Tory government could not
push them through.

With a majority now, Harper can steamroll over the objections of the
Opposition.

The bill is foolish because it comes with a huge price. Prior to the
last election, the Harper government said it wanted to spend $2
billion to expand and build new federal penitentiaries. Harper's crime
bill seeks to crack down on young offenders, drug dealers, sexual
predators and Canadians in foreign prisons is under fire from critics,
who rightly argue it's a waste of time and money since crime rates are
declining in the country.

There are aspects of the proposed legislation that make sense. If
passed, it will eliminate the option of house arrest for those who
have been convicted of violent and property crimes, such as: sexual
assault; human trafficking; arson; breaking and entering; child
luring; and kidnapping.

However, it goes too far and fails to recognize Statistics Canada data
from the past few years that indicate crime is actually going down in
this country. It also ignores American studies that say locking people
up for longer doesn't help reform them.

The bill appears to dismiss the worthiness of restorative justice
programs that have served residents of Nanaimo well.

The bill focuses on incarceration rather than crime prevention. What
is more cost-efficient, jail time after the fact at $50,000 a year per
inmate, or crime prevention and restorative justice programs that cost
peanuts in comparison?

The bill would also increase costs to cash-strapped provinces like
B.C., since the majority of convicted criminals are not sent to
federal penitentiaries but to provincial institutions funded by the
provinces.

With more convictions for minor drug crimes, B.C. will need to
construct more facilities to house those who are convicted.

Nobody disputes that there are problems that need to be addressed in
this country's justice system. However, to try to solve them all in
one all-encompassing bill that ignores the facts does nothing to
address these problems.

There are many dedicated people with the John Howard Society in
Nanaimo who have witnessed how restorative justice programs help both
criminals and victims, but their input was ignored by this government.

Catherine Latimer of the John Howard Society's national office
expressed concerns about the proposed bill, including the potential
for overcrowding in prisons, the cost to the province and taxpayers.

"We think it will endanger corrections workers and inmates and
compromise rights and not promote good corrections and undermine
principles of justices and have a disproportionately harsh impact on
some of the most vulnerable members of our society," she said.

Make no mistake, the Safe Streets and Communities Act won't make this
community any safer.

It may send more criminals to jail but they will eventually be
released after receiving a PhD in crime from fellow inmates. And they
will use their newfound knowledge on the unsuspecting public.