Uncosted

It's far from the first time the Cons have ignored the costs of needlessly draconian criminal laws. But their lack of any attention to the expense associated with increased prison sentences is particularly striking in a campaign where they're trying to run on economic management.

First, it was their announcement that they want to make it easier to subject juveniles to sentences of up to life in prison - with no apparent recognition of the resulting need for increased federal penitentiary space if the change were to pass and avoid being struck down as unconstitutional.

Now, the Cons are offering an uncosted promise to pay the provinces to house additional inmates as a result of their eliminating conditional sentences as an option for 30 offences. But the Cons don't even have any idea how many cases might be affected, let alone how much the change would cost:

The Conservatives said it was difficult to obtain statistics on how many people are given conditional sentences for the 30 offences on their list. They said 11,000 people served conditional sentences in 2006, but the 30 offences make up a small fraction of those in the criminal code.

Mr. Harper also said there will be costs for putting more people in jails, and his government will negotiate compensation with the provinces because many of the extra inmates will be sent to provincial jails. (Sentences of less than two years are served in provincial jails.)

In other words, the party which is lecturing its competitors about fiscal responsibility despite having driven the country to the brink of deficit is making absolutely no effort to even figure out - let alone inform voters about - how much its criminal law platform will cost. Which once again gives Canadian voters plenty of reason to doubt Harper's commitment to anything other than pulling wool over the eyes of the public.