During the election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that it is time for Canada to get smart on crime. The John Howard Society of Canada couldn’t agree more.

For far too long, past governments have pursued U.S.-style “tough-on-crime” approaches that are costly, ineffective and do little to improve offender rehabilitation or public safety.

At a time when our neighbour to the south is actively threatening our economic wellbeing (and our sovereignty), it is vital that we do all we can to make our country strong, our government efficient and our population productive. This includes reforming our criminal justice system so that it can more effectively rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders into society and make our communities safer while also making more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

We can do this by replacing outdated, ineffective and expensive criminal justice policies with new, evidence-based approaches that will yield better results. Here are six ideas that will improve our criminal justice system, make our communities safer and cost taxpayers less in the long run:

  • Offer employment training work experience opportunities to prisoners for in-demand positions so that they can quickly find work upon release. Prisoners have a lot of free time, so let’s allow them to make the most of it and train to fill positions in sectors experiencing labour shortages, such as the skilled trades. Countries like Sweden and Italy allow prisoners to work in cooperative enterprises where they can acquire useful skills that they can help them find steady employment once they are released.

 

  • Automatically grant record suspensions for people who are eligible. Currently, people who are eligible for a criminal record suspension have go through a long and complicated application process, which causes people who have already repaid their debt to society to have to live with the negative effects of a criminal record (including barriers to finding housing and employment) for longer than is necessary. Reviewing each application also places a considerable administrative burden on government with little to no public benefit. We already automatically grant record suspensions for youth offenders; it’s time that we did the same for adults too.

 

  • Stop violating prisoners’ Charter rights (and being forced to pay damages). Over the years, the federal government has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages to prisoners who have had their Charter rights violated while in custody – primarily by keeping them in solitary confinement for longer than what is legally allowed. If the government simply followed the law, it could save a fortune in damages and legal costs.

 

  • Increase access to community-based reintegration programs. These programs help people nearing release by connecting them to housing, employment, health care and other government services. Helping prisoners successfully transition to living in the community lowers their chance of reoffending and improves public safety.

 

  • Ensure that prisoners have access to the programming they need before they become eligible for parole. Many prisoners are denied parole or have their parole hearing postponed because they have not had a chance the complete the required programming. This results in unfair situations where people are being held in prison longer, not because they are likely to reoffend, but because the government is failing to provide access to the necessary programming. Given that it costs three times as much to keep someone in prison than it does to supervise them on parole, we are wasting money keeping people locked up longer than is necessary.

 

  • Fully implement the Federal Framework to Reduce Recidivism. Passed with all-party support in 2021, the framework outlines how the government can tackle the problem of repeat offenders by focusing on housing, health, education, employment and positive support networks for people exiting prison. The framework has so far been underutilized, but if this were to change, it could go a long way to reducing crime and improving public safety.

 

  • Fix what is actually broken in the bail system. Canada has one of the highest proportions of prisoners in remand among western nations (46 per cent). This means that just under half of all the people in our jails have not been convicted of crime (many of whom will later be declared innocent). We need to have a comprehensive, evidence-informed overhaul of our bail system to make it more streamlined, ease the burden on the court system and reduce the number of innocent people who we are removing from the community (which often causes them to lose their employment/housing).

At a time when Canadians are increasingly looking for ways to make their country stronger, more efficient and more productive, reforming our criminal justice system represents a significant opportunity for the newly elected federal government. By adopting effective, efficient and evidence-based approaches, the government can greatly reduce crime and make our communities safer while also making judicious use of taxpayer dollars.

We know that being “tough” on crime doesn’t work. Now, it’s time to get smart

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