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Government should attacks roots of crime

Dear Editor:

I am curious to know how many of your readers (or all Canadians for that matter) have been paying attention to what is going on in Ottawa with regards to the Conservatives’ tough on crime agenda.

At a time when all stats tell us that the incidence of violent crime is on the decline, (don’t be beguiled by the media because after all death and mayhem sell) this government seems intent on spreading fear and inciting a vigilante response to the problem. Other jurisdictions have tried the get tough on crime approach, most notably the United States, and the results have all been the same — more people in jail, higher internment costs, and little hope of rehabilitation.

It is this last item that should be of greatest concern to all of us because these people are going to be released at some point and if they are not prepared to re-enter society then we shouldn’t be surprised when they re-offend. So in the end we will have paid dearly to keep them locked up but could still be subjected to the same recidivism rates we see today.

It should be axiomatic that the billions we are about to spend on prison construction and incarceration costs would be more profitably spent on preventing crime or better — alleviating the underlying causes of it. Childhood poverty would be a good place to start.

Unfortunately people like Justice Minister Vic Toews who espouse the misconception that crime is rampant and we must make the criminals pay, have a much easier task than those who hold the conviction that we are headed down the wrong path. Inciting fear and a lust for revenge plays to our emotions and our insecurities but it does not solve the problems.

And it will be expensive. The government has been typically vague on the actual costs of the new programs but it would probably be a safe wager that the estimate of $2 billion over five years is optimistic. Kevin Page, the independent parliamentary budget officer, disputes this figure and offers a more bracing estimate of $5 billion. Regardless of the final cost of the programs, the government has not told us how this will make us any safer because after all if they are expecting more criminals they must be anticipating more crime.

This is not to say that we don’t have problems, Edmonton is currently on target to earn the ignominious title of murder capital of Canada and drug fueled crime rates are disturbing but the question is should we attack the symptoms or should we look for a cure?

Dan Doram,

Winfield