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By Jeff Davis

OTTAWA — The cost of the federal prison system has risen 86% since the Harper government took over in 2006, government reports show.

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When the Conservatives came to power in 2005-06, Canada’s federal corrections system cost nearly $1.6-billion per year, but the projected cost for 2011-12 has increased to $2.98-billion per year.

“That is a humungous increase of over 80%,” said Justin Piche, an assistant professor of sociology at Memorial University in St. John’s, N.L., who analyzes the costs of Canada’s prisons.

“Canadians are going to be spending a lot more on their prisons, and this is just the beginning.”

Figures on the cost of Canada’s federal corrections system appear in the annual Reports on Plans and Priorities of the Correctional Service of Canada.

By 2013-14, the cost of the federal penitentiary system will have almost doubled to $3.147-billion, according to budget projections.