Last week Vic Toews, minister of public safety, announced that the Harper government intends to “restore balance” to the criminal justice system and increase “offender accountability,” by taking measures to reduce the amount of income prisoners can earn while incarcerated.

Before moving forward with the proposed wage restrictions, perhaps Toews and Prime Minister Stephen Harper should review the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which states that prisoners retain all rights and privileges of Canadians except those that are necessarily removed as a consequence of one’s sentence. The current state of inmate pay violates the Canadian Labour Code and prisoners’ rights to fair and equitable wages. These provisions are consistent with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which states that prisoners shall not be used as labourers without equitable pay.

If that is not bad enough, prisoners’ ability to earn money to support their families and prepare them for release is already extremely limited, and this move by the Harper government will further impede the ability of the incarcerated to successfully reintegrate into the community.

Prisoners are by no means striking it rich inside prison. Prisoners currently earn between $5.25 and $6.90 flat rate per day for working in various areas of federal institutions such as in the kitchen, library, institutional maintenance and so forth. Prisoners who work for the profitable CORCAN program, producing products and services for government and private sector contracts in the areas of manufacturing, construction, textiles and other services such as laundry, earn an additional hourly “incentive” pay that is approximately $1.25 to $2.50 per hour on top of the flat daily rate. Given that minimum wage in Canada is between $9 and $11 per hour depending on the province or territory, even with additional “incentive” pay prisoners are earning far below Canadian wage standards. Even so, should a prisoner earn more than $69 every two weeks, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) automatically deducts 25 per cent for room and board.

At the end of the day, prisoners receive very little compensation for the work they perform. While the small amount of money they earn is far from equitable, it does allow prisoners to provide some, albeit minimal, financial support to their spouses and children, pay for post-secondary educational upgrades, as well as prepare for re-entry into the community in terms of securing proper housing upon release.

Unfortunately, the announcement from the Ministry of Public Safety states that steps will be taken to further restrict prisoners’ earnings by eliminating the “incentive” pay awarded to prisoners working for CORCAN, as well as increasing the percentage that all prisoners will be charged for room and board from 25 per cent to 30 per cent. Such measures will serve to plunge prisoners’ wages even farther below Canadian labour standards, as well as further inhibit prisoners’ abilities to support their families and remain financially stable upon release.

This initiative ignores the wide variety of research that points to financial stability as a key factor in preventing individuals from returning to prison once released. If prisoners have fewer opportunities to earn equitable pay, more men and women will be released from prison into impoverished conditions, which can lead to higher rates of homelessness and recidivism. Families of the incarcerated who depend on this financial support will also suffer the consequences of these “clawback” measures.

Although Toews claims that these measures aim to increase victim and public safety, there is no evidence showing that reducing the financial stability of prisoners and their families will in any way contribute to safer communities. Instead, it seems that the Harper government is seeking ways to recoup funds given public criticism of its $2 billion prison expansion plan and the recent passing of Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, which will cost Canadian tax payers many millions, perhaps even billions, more. By withholding proper wages and charging prisoners rent to be housed in federal penitentiaries, the costs of incarceration are being downloaded onto the prisoners themselves, rather than seeking more cost-effective alternatives to imprisonment.

Other areas of the community that will likely absorb the fiscal impact of this initiative are non-profit organizations that provide support and services to men and women exiting prison. Cuts to prisoners’ income will mean a greater dependence on social support services in the community upon release — an area that is already spread thin and feeling the squeeze of reduced government funding. Although the Conservative government may see an opportunity to offset the costs of their recent spending, in the end all members of the community and social services will be the ones to pay.

Leah DeVellis is a PhD candidate in sociology at Carleton University, where her research focuses on the CORCAN prison labour program.