Vibrant Communities Calgary

PovertyTalks! …about Canada’s latest poverty strategy

The Harper government is getting tough on crime, calling for more severe sentencing and leaving less room for flexibility from judges. Its recent position on crime, reflected in Bill C-10, stems, presumably, from evidence that Canadian crime rates are at their lowest since the early 1970s.

Wait… what?

Yep, Canadian crime rates have been falling, consistently. The Canadian Bar Association’s response to Bill C-10 is nothing short of embarrassing to its authors, criticizing both the punitive spirit and bureaucratic implications of its proposals. Addressing one proposal, they point to 30 years of unmitigated success in Quebec with less punitive approaches to justice; in another, they show that the proposed policy would make it harder for victims of crime to seek justice. Which begs the question – what evidence have the conservatives relied upon in creating this new crime bill?

“The Harper government is just pandering to its base,” says one PovertyTalks! member, arguing that the Harper government is leading a values-based campaign to garner support, rather than relying on evidence about what works.

To another member, this Bill is about stigmatization and discrimination, something supported by FFWD’s recent article on the topic. It accuses the Harper government of viewing those in the justice system as “other” – as a distinct class that should be punished and humiliated for being “less than.”

On the contrary, another PovertyTalks! member argues, those in prison have a much higher rate of past victimization. They may already have pasts fraught with humiliation through unaddressed abuse, sexual abuse and mental health issues, and more punishment simply entrenches the issues these individuals face.

For a PovertyTalks! representative from Women Together Ending Poverty (WTEP), this Crime Bill is an ignorant response to poverty. She points to the 80% of women who are in jail because of committing poverty-related crimes, such as shoplifting or not being able to pay fines for transit violations. WTEP’s release on the issue notes that this is hardly surprising with over 13,000 women in Alberta working for minimum wage, and given that Alberta has the lowest social assistance rates for single parents in the country – in one of the more expensive cities.

“We need more empathy and more sense of community if we’re going to fight poverty and crime,” says another member.

And perhaps we can start in Calgary, where we give fines to people sleeping on park benches. We fine loiterers. We fine public urination. We now fine $250 for those riding transit without a pass. It’s time to stop criminalizing poverty and begin addressing the real issues of why people in our community can’t afford a home or a transit pass.