Prime Minister Stephen Harper thinks the answer to Canada's problems is to build more prisons" Billions of taxpayer dollars have now been designated to this agenda! Why? Does he not understand that these prisons will not only cost us billions of dollars we don't have, they will also cost billions of dollars a year to operate, adding another massive burden on taxpayers:
Did you know it currently costs us around $60,000 a year to keep one person in jail -- where on the other hand, a family of four on welfare cost us around $12,000 a year? That's $240,000 a year for 4 people in prison compared to $12,000 for 4 people on Social Services. You don't have to be smarter that a fifth grader to figure out, that if we gave those on Social Service more, say $40,000 ($10,000 each) so they could afford the basic necessities to live. They probably wouldn't have to revert to crime and drugs to survive. This would save the taxpayer $200,000 a year that could be then spent on Healthcare, Housing and Education, something that would make everyone happy -- and less people going to prison, a win, win situation. It's said, "One ounce of prevention is worth a pound of Cure." Spending Billions on more prisons is like using Gasoline to put out a Fire, when a fraction of that amount could be spent on the water to prevent it from happening. Where is the sense in that?