Sigh. Here we go. The new border security deal will soon have US cops cracking Canadian heads. Tuesday, Harper will introduce his totally unnecessary ‘tough on crime’ (or ‘making my friends rich’) bill. Of course, the Cons will message the shit out of this. The opposition will be the usual pussies that they are. And the bill will become reality.
In July, Statistics Canada reported that there were fewer homicides, attempted murders, serious assaults and robberies across Canada in 2010.In 2009, there were 801 attempted murders in Canada, but 2010 saw only 693, making last year’s rate the lowest for this offence in more than 30 years.
As in the past, most crimes (79 per cent) were non-violent. That includes theft under $5,000, mischief and break-ins.
At the time, the figures were downplayed by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s spokesman, who said the Tories “don’t use these statistics as an excuse not to get tough on criminals.”
But Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett said the government’s tough-on-crime agenda is divorced from the reality of crime in Canada.
“The Harper government’s ideologically driven crime agenda is outrageously costly and completely out of line with crime in Canada,” she said. “The crime rate is constantly going down, but the expenditures from prisons are going through the roof.”
Canada’s federal corrections system cost nearly $1.6 billion per year when the Conservatives took power in 2005-06, but the projected cost for 2011-12 has increased to $2.98 billion per year, according to Corrections Canada.
By 2013-14, the cost of the federal penitentiary system will have almost doubled to $3.147 billion, according to budget projections.
Crimes committed in Canada were down five per cent in 2010 according to Statistics Canada. The most serious crimes are also down six per cent.
