Harper fails as a crimefighter

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2015 (3277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a recent speech in Winnipeg, Prime Minister Stephen Harper proclaimed himself Canada’s crimefighter and spoke of how his government supports victims of crime. However, evidence tells another story. Reoffending is on the increase since he took power, at least here in Manitoba. More seriously, his government has just cancelled funding for a program proven to be extremely successful in reducing recidivism among extremely high-risk sex offenders.

Crime rates across Canada have been falling long before the current government was elected to power due to our aging population. However, according to figures compiled by Manitoba Justice, there has been a 20 per cent increase in recidivism in this province since 2007, a year after Harper was first elected. Recidivism is an especial concern, because the second crime is often more severe than the first. The Harper government has passed a number of new mandatory sentence provisions that make it harder or even impossible for judges to impose conditional or community sentences. Since those who serve a sentence behind bars are twice as likely to reoffend as those who serve a sentence in the community, the government’s policies encourage reoffending. Added to this the government has made it much harder for inmates to obtain parole, meaning most no longer leave custody with support and supervision in place, which also increases recidivism. Longer sentences and an increase in re-offending is causing the cost of corrections to grow at both the provincial and federal level. Unfortunately the government is trying to cut costs at the expense of public safety.

The annual budget for the entire Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) program across Canada is only $2.5 million. Until very recently, CoSA worked with over 155 recently released sex-offenders, who have an 80 per cent likelihood to reoffend (almost three times the usual recidivism rate). These are individuals who have been denied parole or even statutory release because they pose such a high risk. As a result they return to the community without support or supervision, having reached the end of their sentence. CoSA has played a vital role in reducing the risk these offenders pose. A study showed convicted sex-offenders working with CoSA are 84 per cent less likely to reoffend sexually. Yet this program has just lost all of its funding from the federal government. This is forcing a number of CoSA sites across Canada to shut down, and others to severely scale back their services. A program whose motto is “no more victims” should be embraced by the Harper government, instead of closed. As a result of the cutbacks, most of the current clients across Canada will be left to fend for themselves, once again posing an extremely high chance to re-offend.

The government has offered no real explanation for why it is walking away from an initiative proven to greatly reduce the likelihood of a new crime in the first place. And not just any crime, but those mostly directed towards women and children. Locking an offender up, after a crime has been committed, does not change the fact that a victim was created in the process.

True crime-fighting involves embracing strategies and programs that can be seen to reduce future crime. Alternatives which the current government is going out of its way to ignore or even impede. Unfortunately for the public’s safety, just saying you’re a crimefighter doesn’t make it so.

 

Gail Schellenberg, a Winnipeg educator, is the executive director of Initiatives for Just Communities, which operates Circles of Support and Accountability.

John Hutton, a Winnipeg mediator and social worker, is the executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba.