Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has taken strong steps to ensure that dangerous individuals are kept behind bars where they belong.
Canadians agree with our common sense reforms, like ending the misguided practice of giving two-for-one credit for time served before trial. However, not content to simply oppose these measures, the NDP made wild allegations that one bill alone would cost $19 billion because of the new prisons that would need to be built.
Clearly, nothing could be further from the truth. We announced the closing of two prisons in order to save taxpayers' money.
Yesterday, in main estimates, there were significant reductions in the cost of prisons due to the influx of new prisoners not materializing.
The thrust of our tough on crime agenda is to ensure that dangerous and repeat offenders are kept behind bars where they belong. We are not creating new criminals; we are simply stopping the revolving door of the justice system.