My National Talk Radio Phone-In Debut
I made my national talk radio debut on the Peter Warren show this afternoon, calling in on the topic of Canadian Corrections. They had a RCMP inspector showing how Corrections Canada is scamming the Canadian public in regards to incarceration and recidivism rates. I called in, stating how the Canadian Criminal Justice system is rotten and dependant on public antipathy and naivity.
Earlier in the programme, people had called in praising an Ontario Mother who had turned her 16 year old son in to police after finding a loaded AK47 and cocaine in his room, stating that "she did the right thing" and that "her son can now get the help he needs". I stated the fact that inmates are released onto the street every day from maximum security prisons without ever taking a single programme.
Further to this, I also stated the cost of housing a max inmate, which ranges from $80,000 - $120,000 per year, and to think of how many hot lunch programmes we could pay for at schools in our community or better treatment we might offer war veterans with this kind of money.
Perhaps my strongest point was how, in being incarcerated, though you lose the right of mobility, you actually gain more rights than a law abiding citizen in that, by being a ward of the state, you have the right to three meals each day, legal representation, etc. Think about it: if you don't/can't buy groceries, how will you eat today? Incarcerated inmates have three square meals per day catered, satellite television, a daily gym period and get paid whether or not they hold a job in the jail (though rates vary) so that they can buy canteen items (ranging from tobacco to potatoe chips, etc.), have clothing and shelter provided, etc. As an Officer and law abiding citizen, I work for the federal government (who takes approximately 1/3 of my bi-weekly paycheque, part of which pays my salary), have to pay a mortage, property taxes and insurance, gym membership, food for my family, clothes, etc.... leaving my mobility rights if I can afford the fare or gas...
Don't even get me started on how my Federal Government Medical Insurance won't pay for me to go to a private MRI clinic, yet they will for inmates....
...Now if only i could find those ruby slippers, then I'd be outta here!
I made my national talk radio debut on the Peter Warren show this afternoon, calling in on the topic of Canadian Corrections. They had a RCMP inspector showing how Corrections Canada is scamming the Canadian public in regards to incarceration and recidivism rates. I called in, stating how the Canadian Criminal Justice system is rotten and dependant on public antipathy and naivity.
Earlier in the programme, people had called in praising an Ontario Mother who had turned her 16 year old son in to police after finding a loaded AK47 and cocaine in his room, stating that "she did the right thing" and that "her son can now get the help he needs". I stated the fact that inmates are released onto the street every day from maximum security prisons without ever taking a single programme.
Further to this, I also stated the cost of housing a max inmate, which ranges from $80,000 - $120,000 per year, and to think of how many hot lunch programmes we could pay for at schools in our community or better treatment we might offer war veterans with this kind of money.
Perhaps my strongest point was how, in being incarcerated, though you lose the right of mobility, you actually gain more rights than a law abiding citizen in that, by being a ward of the state, you have the right to three meals each day, legal representation, etc. Think about it: if you don't/can't buy groceries, how will you eat today? Incarcerated inmates have three square meals per day catered, satellite television, a daily gym period and get paid whether or not they hold a job in the jail (though rates vary) so that they can buy canteen items (ranging from tobacco to potatoe chips, etc.), have clothing and shelter provided, etc. As an Officer and law abiding citizen, I work for the federal government (who takes approximately 1/3 of my bi-weekly paycheque, part of which pays my salary), have to pay a mortage, property taxes and insurance, gym membership, food for my family, clothes, etc.... leaving my mobility rights if I can afford the fare or gas...
Don't even get me started on how my Federal Government Medical Insurance won't pay for me to go to a private MRI clinic, yet they will for inmates....
...Now if only i could find those ruby slippers, then I'd be outta here!
posted by Ed Meers @ 1/08/2006 07:50:00 p.m.
3 Comments:
At 3:07 a.m. ,
Ang said...
A topic close my heart!
My mom signed a Section 8 for my brother when he was 13. He was "out of control"; stealing from my mom, drugs, drinking, failing out of school, B and Es etc. She thought that she was doing what was best for him and that he would recieve some sort of help.
He was put in a group home where they were making home brew in the closet. At one point my brother tried to get help for his drug and alcohol abuse, but they said that he couldnt possibly have a problem because they were not allowed access in the home. He was the subject of physical and mental abuse. By the time he worked his way up to 'grown up jail' he was side by side with most of the same guys he was with at 13...even the ones who had not committed a crime in the first place. It is a system that perpetuates itself and offers no incentive to break the cycle!
I am not advocating a soft and fluffy tell me about your feelings approach...but the system is not working! Not for the people in the system and especially not for the victims of the crimes that are being perpetrated again and again!
At 9:12 a.m. ,
Ed Meers said...
The story of your brother is one I see repeated over and over again and I really feel for your family.
The problem with the Canadian system is the lack of accountability in almost every aspect. Prison should not be a pleasant place to go because of rigidity and discipline (and by discipline I mean ethical consequences NOT abuse). The difference between "rights" and "privledges" inside have been blurred. Privledges should have to be earned and be taken away if behaviour warrants it. Ultimately the vast majority of Offenders will be returning to the community. That alone is flawed. I think that all sentences should be indeterminite and the Offender should have to earn their way out, meaning that they have to cascade through the various designations (Max, Medium, Minimum, 1/2 way house, street.), completing certain courses and behavioural expectations along the way.
What we have now is a joke and there is no "correcting" in Canadian Corrections, nor is there any "justice' in the Canadian Justice System.
At 5:01 p.m. ,
Anonymous said...
tried this earlier and still as archie, since you will draw red next on these prison problems, be careful please, so i see you at work thirsty or fried, eh. as a guard my hypocrasy knows no bounds. i cant help watching cons screw themselves and not get laid.manage meant what they mean and are they mean. but politics make stranger bedfellows than camus'. how do i get into this haiku con test.
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