Sunday, February 04, 2007

Letting down our guards

For all Stockwell Day's flaws, he apparently has little problem with the art of spin, "denying" a report about the planned removal of workers from Canada's prisons by saying the report really only reflects the potential for job reassignment:
Ottawa has no plans to cut the overall number of positions at federal correctional institutions, the Minister of Public Safety said Sunday.

Stockwell Day made the comment in reference to an article in Saturday's Globe and Mail that indicated the federal government is planning to reduce the number of prison-guards by three hundred.

Mr. Day says while officers are at times reassigned to meet the particular security needs of different locations, no jobs have or will be lost in the process...

Documents forwarded to the newspaper by members of the prison guards' union indicate the government proposes cutting officers across the country's 54 prisons. The numbers cited were part of a study put forth by Correctional Services Canada last fall.
If the lone issue were whether or not Canada's current correctional workers would continue to be employed, Day's answer would be of at least some use. But the bigger question has to be that of whether or not Canada's prisons will be adequately staffed - not simply whether current workers will lose their jobs.

And on that issue, it's worth keeping in mind that Day's vision for criminal justice includes $200 million to build new prisons where current workers could presumably be "transferred". Which would leave the current workers with a far greater workload, while also increasing the risk to both their safety and that of inmates - but all without cutting a single "position" currently available.

Needless to say, it can't come as any comfort to either inmates or workers that Day is merely willing to say he won't cut staff below current levels. And while inmates won't be able to do anything about any increased dangers, it shouldn't be the least bit surprising if some present staff see that as reason to leave Correctional Services Canada whether or not their position still exists.

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