bad decision, mp says Calkins: Needles don’t belong in prisons Feb 8, 2020 9:00 AM

In the Prime Minister’s Mandate to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, he was instructed to “lead the Government’s work in ensuring that Canadians are kept safe from a range of threats, while safeguarding the rights and freedoms of Canadians.”

Now, it seems to me that the Minister’s decision to introduce a needle exchange program in our prisons for the purposes of allowing prisoners, people already convicted of crime, to use illegal drugs violates the very job he was appointed to do.

I fail to understand why someone in his position would authorize the use of illegal drugs, and put weapons in the hands of criminals inside our prisons. Members of Correctional Services Canada already put their lives on the line every single day; this decision has created an even more dangerous place to work. Furthermore, how can we expect convicts to be rehabilitated when you are enabling their dependence on illegal and dangerous drugs?

This decision is just one in a litany of bad decisions made by the office meant to keep Canadians safe. Whether it’s moving Tori Stafford’s killer from a maximum security prison to a healing lodge or permitting a twice-convicted violent offender to receive sexual services, Minister Blair and the Liberals are prioritizing the rights of criminals over the rights of Canadians. This is the same Minister who has no plan to tackle crime, except to target law-abiding firearms owners for a gun grab.