Letters to the Editor
November 20, 2008 12:16 AM
Re: Violent criminals, gangs under attack in Ottawa, Nov. 16.
An open letter to York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan.
Congratulations on your appointment as public safety minister. I can’t think of anyone who could do a better job in this portfolio than you.
I do have some outside-the-box thoughts with respect to crime and punishment.
I support Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stand on getting tough on crime and making criminals serve their full sentences instead of receiving early release, for no other reason than to make room for other criminals.
And I was sickened to learn the parole board released an overweight prisoner because, in its opinion, the “system” had not provided adequately for his unique situation.
What a crock.
In my view, prisoners should not be coddled but, instead, be productive during their incarceration. They should all produce goods or provide services, marketed to the public, with the proceeds going directly to offset the cost of their incarceration.
In other words, there should be a zero-net cost to taxpayers for housing criminals.
Also, seized proceeds from crime should be directed to offset the cost of housing criminals, which includes security staff wages.
Of course, unions would raise a stink about prisoners taking away union jobs. Tough.
Build more prisons with the proceeds from crime and the profits from the goods and services generated by the criminals.
Also, these new prisons could be built in high unemployment areas, thus providing jobs for more local residents, again at no cost to taxpayers.
This might seem radical, but it’s time we started entertaining new ideas and concepts to address one of the biggest problems we face and, at the same time, put some teeth into our law enforcement.
Glen Langford
Newmarket