Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2007 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Francois Shalom, The Gazette Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) LOCK 'EM UP, DUMONT SAYS ADQ Leader Would Curtail Conditional Releases, Make Prisoners Pay For Jail Mario Dumont proposed getting tough on Quebec's "revolving-door prison system" yesterday, including making prisoners pay for their own incarceration. Speaking at a former prison converted into a museum - a grim showcase to dissuade youngsters from a life of crime - the Action democratique du Quebec leader condemned the use of conditional releases as a way of easing prison overcrowding, a widespread practice which he blamed on cuts by Parti Quebecois governments. An ADQ government would forbid conditional release for anyone convicted of two crimes against a person, or of two drug offences, he said. Citing the Corbo report a few years ago on Quebec's prison system, Dumont said nearly one-third of prisoners in the province are in jail for the 10th time or more. To save money, governments have shut five jails and are overly lax in letting out prisoners on conditional release and temporary leaves for humanitarian reasons, he charged. Both have been badly abused, Dumont said, resulting in hardened criminals who should be locked up being at liberty in society - too often committing horrific crimes. He mentioned the "sad and famous" case of Mario Bastien, who was on provincial conditional release in 2000 when he sexually attacked and killed 13-year-old Alexandre Livernoche in Sorel. "There's a lack of seriousness in Quebec in the management of public security" he said, flanked by local candidates and officials. He would not say who would pay for their incarceration or how much, only that it "wouldn't be much" and would target people with the means to pay. If elected, his government would spend $50 million - a rare ADQ spending estimate in this campaign - to correct the problem, he said, possibly to build new jails or expand existing ones. Liberal Party critic Jacques Dupuis immediately ridiculed the ADQ promise. He said the proposal would mean political interference in the judicial process, that the current government has never allowed the release of inmates for budgetary reasons, that the budget of the conditional release board was doubled to $5.5 million, and that making people pay to stay in jail would "perversely" penalize their innocent families. Dumont insisted "conditional release should be just what it says, conditional, and not automatic." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom