Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n104/a11.html Author: Christine Bonta JAIL TERMS DON'T DETER CRIMES Re: Harper has his justice platform locked up, Jan. 25. I commend Dan Gardner for continuing to remind us of the consequences that might occur if the newly elected minority Conservative government attempts to reform the current criminal justice policy by increasing punishments. Prior to the election, Mr. Gardner wrote several highly evidence-based articles pertaining to crime. On numerous occasions he reiterated that criminology research shows that making punishment tougher does not deter criminals from committing crimes. As Mr. Gardner points out, the U.S., which has adopted "get tough" policies, has over 25 years increased its "spending on cops, courts and prisons by 452 per cent." At the same time, spending for higher education was reduced by 21 per cent. During the election campaign, Mr. Harper neither explained nor outlined to the public the cost required to implement his crime policies. In an earlier article, Mr. Gardner outlined the enormous spending required -- it is in the billions of dollars. This money has to come from somewhere. Do we want Canada to become like the U.S and increase needless spending on crime, thereby taking away much-needed resources from things like healthcare services? Every Canadian would suffer as health care affects every individual in this country. Should these "get tough" policies be implemented, I fear that our country and our health-care system will be in worse shape than they are today. This is something Canada and Canadians cannot afford! Politicians need to implement policies that will benefit us today and in the future, and not policies that merely get votes. Christine Bonta, Ottawa - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman