"Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong".
- Friedrich Nietzsche
The costs outlined above do not include the annual structural deficit associated with staffing, operating and maintaining these new units. These itemized details, beyond the $2 billion over five years guestimation associated with these penal infrastructure initiatives, are not included in federal government press releases likely because CSC and their political masters prefer to avoid acknowledging the long-term impacts of their decisions. This practice is part of a trend where the Feds conceal the costs of their 'just us' bills from Canadians, sometimes in the name of "Cabinet confidence", arguably in an effort to protect their penal fiefdom (read article by John Ibbitson).
With other punishment bills having been passed and more sitting on the order-of-paper in Parliament, this is just the beginning of the penal pork barrelling that we will see should this agenda be allowed to continue in the context of budgetary deficits, declining police-reported 'crime' rates and other jurisdictions running away from their failed mass incarceration policies.
That the Conservatives would "rather not share" these costs with their colleagues in the opposition and Canadians, says a great deal about their approach to accountable and transparent government. We are being denied our right to information and to decide for ourselves if we support Harper's carceral binge because Mommy and Daddy government claim to know better. Apparently, we should take comfort in knowing that they are on "our side".
But are they on our side? Is a Prime Minister who routinely dispatches Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews - or Batman and Robin as I like to call them - to warn citizens of the 'imminent dangers' we face in our communities due to decades of 'Liberal' penal policy, as if we live in Gotham City, really on our side?
Is a Prime Minister who noted on the fifth anniversary of Conservative rule that "Canadians expect to live in a country where they don't have to worry when they turn the lights out at night, where they don't have to look over their shoulders when they walk the streets, where they can expect to find their car where they parked it", when he knows full well that most Canadians are not particularly concerned with 'crime' and generally feel safe, on our side?
Watching interviews with Conservative MPs such as Rob Nicholson (see 11 February 2011 interview on CBC's Power & Politics), who routinely neutralize questions and critiques vis-à-vis their punishment agenada by responding with their 'just us' taglines, I would like to laugh if the consequences of their rhetoric wasn't so damaging.
That members of the so-called Conservative Party are willing to take every opportunity to divide Canadians and strike fear in our hearts is quite rich, especially when contrasted with Harper's narrative of governance "with hope and not with fear" and a Canada that is "more united, stronger, more prosperous and safer". From my vantage point, I can't think of any government that has divided Canadians, eroded remains of community, and has undermined our collective prosperity and safety in our neighbourhoods more than this government.
NEW CSC UNITS ANNOUNCED TO DATE
ATLANTIC REGION
August 17, 2010 - $40 million for construction
Springhill Institution (192 new beds)
November 19, 2010 - $42.5 million for construction
Atlantic Institution (96 new beds)
Westmorland Institution (50 new beds)
December 10, 2010 - $2.5 million for construction
Nova Institution for Women (18 new beds)
Total new units = 5
Total new beds = 356
Total construction costs = $85 million
QUÉBEC REGION
October 6, 2010 - $10 million for construction
Montée St.-François Institution (50 new beds)
October 6, 2010 - $40 million for construction
Federal Training Centre (96 new beds)
October 6, 2010 - $10 million for construction
Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines Institution (50 new beds)
January 10, 2010 - $73 million for construction
Cowansville Institution (192 new beds)
Donnacona Institution (96 new beds)
Total new units = 6
Total new beds = 484
Total construction costs = $133 million
ONTARIO REGION
September 7, 2010 - $15 million for construction
Fenbrook Institution (96 new beds)
October 6, 2010 - $32.5 million for construction
Millhaven Institution (96 new beds)
October 6, 2010 - $35 million for construction
Bath Institution (192 new beds)
October 6, 2010 - $28 million for construction
Collins Bay Institution (96 new beds)
January 10, 2010 - $20 million for construction
Frontenac Institution (50 new beds)
Pittsburgh Institution (50 new beds)
January 10, 2010 - $10 million for construction
Beaver Creek Institution (50 new beds)
Total new units = 8
Total new beds = 630
Total construction costs - $140.5 million
PRAIRIE REGION
August 31, 2010 - $15 million for construction
Drumheller Institution (96 new beds)
August 31, 2010 - $10 million for construction
Drumheller Institution Annex (50 new beds)
August 31, 2010 - $15 million for construction
Bowden Institution (96 new beds)
August 31, 2010 - $10 million for construction
Bowden Institution Annex (50 new beds)
November 12, 2010 - $45 million for construction
Stony Mountain Institution (96 new beds)
Rockwood Institution (50 new beds)
January 10, 2011 - $55 million for construction
Riverbend Institution (50 new beds)
Willow Cree Healing Lodge (40 new beds)
Edmonton Institution (96 new beds)
Total new units = 9
Total new beds = 624
Total construction costs = $150 million
PACIFIC REGION
August 30, 2010 - $15 million for construction
Mission Institution - 96 new beds
November 29, 2010 - $77.5 million for construction
Kent Institution (96 new beds)
Matsqui Institution (96 new beds)
Pacific Institution (96 new beds)
Ferndale Institution (50 new beds)
Fraser Valley Institution (24 new beds)
Total new units = 6
Total new beds = 458
Total construction costs = $92.5 million
Thanks for another quality post.
ReplyDeleteKirk Tousaw
Beyond Prohibition Foundation
www.whyprohibition.ca