Letter: Pork-barrel prisons

It’s interesting that the article on prison reform (see “Canada’s prison paradox,” Aug. 18) says Canada’s corrections systems are expanding as the severity and number of criminal offences fall.

To understand the paradox, one only needs to look at who builds or will build prisons in Canada, who is slated to benefit from the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on prison construction, and then figure out whether that group of individuals has contributed to the Conservative party’s re-election campaign or has offered significant media support during election time through one or another of their associated media empires. The answer will then become clear.

Privatizing prison systems is pork-barrel politics of the highest order; only this time we’re talking billions of dollars instead of a simple appointment to a government board as the patronage payoff.

In an age where information flows freely, I am surprised we haven’t figured that one out yet but I’m sure someone will eventually.
Lou Ferro,
Ferro & Co.,
Hamilton, Ont.

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