Good evening.
I'd like to say first off that we are very concerned about and not happy with the impact this bill is going to have in terms of going in the direction of putting more people in prison for a longer time and all the implications that has for our society, not only in terms of financial costs, but also in terms of social costs. However, we really do understand the public sentiment that is feeding this bill.
There is a sense of public outrage about certain kinds of offences that appear not to be resulting in a sufficient length of time in prison compared with what the sentence was pronounced to be. We understand that sense of disappointment, but it is such a shame that the solution you're proposing is going to affect a large number of others in ways that are going to be very destructive.
We wish you could propose a solution that would allow for exceptions to be made when the application of this would bring the administration of justice into public disrepute, for reasons of public sentiment around it, without affecting in such a rigid way all the others for whom it is really necessary.... It's just going in the same direction of how we use prison in this country, which is similar to how it's being used in the States. But the States have opened up to the fact that to use prison to send a message has been very, very counterproductive. We need it for public safety, in some instances, but there's a large number of non-violent offenders for whom we don't need it.
Also, there is the collateral damage it does, not only to the offenders who are in there and affected by that environment, but also to their families. The U.S. has actually documented this in a very specific way through their Pew foundation. They have documented the impact that it has socio-economically--and economically especially--on the offender, the offender's family, and the children of the offender, and for a very long time to come.
I think we thought we had the luxury of using prison to send a message, but we don't. We have to wake up to the fact that we don't. We now know, very much so, that programs in the community are more effective, they're much cheaper, and they can provide much better satisfaction to victims.
So I think if victims are asking for more imprisonment, it's often because the other needs they have are not being met. If you would just take a step back from this blind complacency of how we use prison...this is what some of the people in the States are saying now. When they're looking at the results for them, they're saying that it should bring sadness and shame upon us and that we have to wake up from this blind complacency, this sleep of complacency, with regard to how we use prison, with all its damaging effects.
I would really urge you to find a better way to meet the needs of your constituents and the victims of crime--something that is a much more satisfying process for them than just a little bit longer time in prison for offenders when they're not an imminent danger to the community.