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May 29, 2006 (Ottawa) – The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry
Societies (CAEFS) emerged from their annual general meeting clear in their
commitment to steadfastly oppose the imposition of more mandatory minimum sentences,
the reduction in the use of conditional sentences and potential interference
with opportunities for conditional release. CAEFS is a federation of 25 local,
community based service providers who work with and on behalf of victimized,
criminalized, and imprisoned women and girls. "The Harper government
refuses to acknowledge the vast amount of international research discrediting
the effectiveness of the proposed law reform agenda. Mandatory minimum sentences
are seductive to citizens unfamiliar with the complexities of crime, and to
politicians who want to be seen by those citizens as taking action to protect
them," stated Dr. Ailsa Watkinson, President of the Canadian Association
of Elizabeth Fry Societies. "Canada already has approximately 45 mandatory
minimum sentences; more mandatory minimum sentences will mean that people who
are ensnared in the prison system are likely to be kept there for longer periods
of time." "Most people realize that the increased use of
mandatory minimum sentences and decreased use of conditional sentences, sometimes
known as house arrest, will vastly increase the cost of the criminal justice
system. Imprisonment is expensive – far more expensive, in fact, than
other means of preventing crime. To keep a person incarcerated in Canada,
it costs anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 per year, depending upon the nature
of the prison and the needs of the prisoner. If even just half of the seven
billion dollars currently spent on imprisoning people was invested in welfare,
housing, health, education and other community based services, the resulting
resources would benefit whole communities, not merely those who are criminalized," continued
Dr. Gillian Balfour, a member of the Social Action Committee of CAEFS.
"Based
upon what has happened in the United States, there is every reason to believe
that additional mandatory penalties for firearms will have the same effects
in Canada of increasing unfairness in the enforcement of the law, generating
wrongful convictions, and devastating the African Canadian community by incarcerating
young men at a disproportionate rate. Mandatory minimum penalties and fewer
community release opportunities will also likely exacerbate the over-incarceration
of Aboriginal people, especially Aboriginal women," said Kim Pate,
Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. "The
United Nations Human Rights Committee has already expressed serious concern
about Canada's treatment of women prisoners. These measures will only make
things worse for the women with whom our membership works."
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30 – Contact: Dr. Ailsa Watkinson, President,
Dr. Gillian
Balfour or
Kim Pate, Executive Director at 613-298-2422
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