After months of wrangling over the Harper government's unwillingness to provide a full costing of major expenditures such as the price tag of their punishment agenda, fighter jets and corporate tax cuts (read 21 March post) to parliamentarians who are responsible to their constituents for knowing the implications of the legislation under consideration that will affect the lives of Canadians (read 16 March post), the opposition parties voted in support of the following non-confidence motion yesterday:
"That the House agrees with the finding of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that the government is in contempt of Parliament, which is unprecedented in Canadian parliamentary history, and consequently, the House has lost confidence in the government".
With this vote, a contemptuous and defeated Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who effectively characterized the events as trivial and unimportant to Canadians (read article by John Ivison), visited the Governor General today to dissolve Parliament. While there seems to be much debate amongst the commentariat as to whether or not this edition of the Conservatives are more contemptuous than previous Liberal governments (read this editorial by Rex Murphy for an example), the question as to why the Harper administration didn't provide Canadians with a full costing of their punishment bills and other grandiose expenditures is one that has arguably been pushed to the margins by many reporters.
The attention of the media seems to be directed towards chasing Harper's 'coalition' tagline, to which I only have one comment: If the Liberals wanted to form a coalition with the Bloc Québecois and NDP, why bother with this election campaign ? Couldn't they have formed a coalition last week and saved themselves the headache of criss-crossing the country for votes (read article by Diana Swain)?
Now that I'm distracted, discussing what would be a legitimate governing arrangement no matter who was leading a coalition or who was part of it, what needs to be asked of Harper is why he would not provide a full account of some of his major policy planks.
Is it because current estimates are being low-balled as some, including the Parliamentary Budget Officer, have suggested (read 22 June 2010 post)?
Or is it because the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Cumulative Impact Working Group that has been attempting to project the costs of these measures may still not have tools to predict, to the degree that is possible, how much Canadian taxpayers will be on the hook for due to our current carceral binge (read 7 February post)?
These questions, for which Canadians deserve a response, remain unanswered and neutralized by fears of a so-called reckless coalition.
As many punishment bills, some of which have been on the order of paper for years under other names, have now entered political purgatory (see below), one can expect many of them to resurface in the form of Conservative campaign promises (see 2006 and 2008 platforms). If the last two election campaigns are any indication, all federal political parties including the Greens (2006 / 2008), Liberals (2006 / 2008) and NDP (2006 / 2008) will also advance their own 'tough on crime' credentials (for contrast, see Bloc Québecois - 2006 / 2008).
With many penal policy announcements to come, here are the questions that I hope will be asked and answered in the weeks ahead:
- What is the price tag of the Correctional Service of Canada's long-term accommodation strategy (read 17 March post)?
- What are the capital and operational costs of the proposed penal policies to the federal government who is responsible for incarcerating individuals serving sentences of two-years-plus-a-day?
- What are the capital and operational costs of the proposed penal policies to the provinces and territories who are responsible for incarcerating individuals serving sentences of two-years-plus-a-day?
- What evidence exists to suggest that the proposed penal policies will enhance safety in our communities in the short- and long-term?
- What evidence exists to suggest that the proposed penal policies will meet the complex needs of the victimized and criminalized?
- What less costly and more effective prevention and community-based alternatives will not be pursued should proposed penal policies divert resources towards the construction of penal infrastructure and the warehousing of additional prisoners?
As details emerge from the 2011 federal punishment platforms of aspiring public office holders, visit Tracking the Politics of 'Crime' and Punishment for commentary and analysis.
Conservative Punishment and Penal System (a.k.a. Criminal Justice System) Administration Bills Tabled in the 3rd Session of the 40th Parliament that Died on the Order of Paper
House of Commons (summary)
C-4: An Act to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts (Sébastien's Law / Protecting the Public from Violent Young Offenders)
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - May 3, 2010
C-5: An Act to amend the International Transfer of Offenders Act
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Committee Report Tabled - February 7, 2011
C-16: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Ending House Arrest for Property and Other Serious Crimes by Serious and Violent Offenders Act)
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - May 6, 2010
C-17: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (investigative hearing and the recognizance with conditions / Combatting Terrorism Act)
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Report Tabled - March 2, 2011
C-23B: An Act to amend the Criminal Records Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - June 14, 2010
C-38: An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - June 14, 2010
C-39: An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - October 20, 2010
C-43: An Act to enact the RCMP Labour Relations Modernization Act and to amend the RCMP Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (RCMP Modernization Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - June 17, 2010
C-49: An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balance Refugee Reform Act and the Marine Transportation Security Act (Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - October 21, 2010
C-50: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - October 29, 2010
C-51: An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - November 1, 2010
C-52: An Act Regulating Telecommunications Facilities to Support Investigations (Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - November 1, 2010
C-53: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Fair and Efficient Trials Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - November 2, 2010
C-54: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act)
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - March 24, 2011
C-60: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (citizen's arrest and the defences of property and persons)
* Last stage passed: 2nd Reading, House of Commons / Referred to Committee - March 22, 2011
Senate (summary)
S-7: An Act to deter terrorism and to amend the State Immunity Act (Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - February 8, 2011
S-10: An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts (Penalties for Organized Drug Crime Act)
* Last stage passed: 1st Reading, House of Commons - December 14, 2010
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