[Wamvan] Fwd: No to Private Prisons, the Omnibus Crime Bill and Mass Incarceration! Homes Not Jails!

[Tami Starlight]

*No to Private Prisons, the Omnibus Crime Bill and Mass Incarceration!
Homes Not Jails!*

Tuesday, February 21, 12:30 PM
@ the new (under construction) privatized Surrey Remand Centre
adjacent Surrey City Hall at Highway 10 and 142nd Street, Surrey BC

The BC Liberals and private contractor Brookfield Int are building a
expanded and privatized (P3) 216 cell remand centre in Surrey BC.  Christy
Clark recently announced the construction of another 360 cell facility to
be built on Native land in the Okanagan.  These prisons are part of a
massive expansion of Canada's prison system, with at least 9,000 spots
currently under construction in every province and territory. The new
prisons will be used to lock up an increasing number of criminalized poor
people in Canada with people who use drugs, Native people, youth, migrants
and refugees particularly targeted.

*Stop the private prisons - Christy Clark's housing plan for the poor.*

*Organized by Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users & Western Aboriginal
Harm Reduction Society*
*Endorsed by:* Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council, Alliance for
People's Health, BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors - Abbotsford
Chapter, BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors - Surrey Chapter, BC
Association of People on Methadone, Eastside Illicit Drinkers for Education.

For information call Aiyanas at 604-683-6061 (VANDU) or 604-315-8766 or
email vandu at vandu.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mass Incarceration Agenda is...

   - Federal Legislation including the “Omnibus Crime Bill” and “Truth in
   Sentencing Act” and changes to immigration law that will put more poor
   people, Native people, youth, people who use illicit drugs and immigrants
   and refugees in prison
   - A massive boom in prison construction at both Provincial and Federal
   levels, including a huge shift towards prison privatization
   - Police practices of 'mining' poor neighbourhoods for crime,
   criminalizing poor people's survival activities, arresting people for being
   involved in drugs to which they are addicted, systematic surveillance and
   harassment of a small geographical area


*Prison Building in Canada*

   - The largest expansion of prison building ‘since the 1930s’
   - 9,000 spots: about 2,000 in federal system and about 7,000
   provincially with more that 60 sites under construction in every province
   and territory (for a comprehensive list see -
   http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/24/by-the-numbers-how-many-new-prison-beds-are-coming-to-your-part-of-canada/
   )
   - Billions of dollars in capital costs and rapidly rising operating costs
   - Cost of Incarceration is about $57,000 / year in a Provincial Facility
   and about $88,000 in a Federal Facility

*Privatization and Profiteering*

   - “Private-Public-Partnerships” to design/build and operate prisons in
   B.C. and Ontario
   - New Surrey Remand Centre contract awarded to Brookfield Int. (see
   http://thieverycorp.wordpress.com/) and a new 350 cell facility being
   built on land owned by the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan
   - Toronto South Detention Centre is a $1 billion P3 for a 1,650 'bed'
   facility designed built and operated by EllisDon
   - Prison profiteers will make a “per person, per day” profit from
   escalating incarceration of the poor as well as lucrative construction,
   maintenance and servicing contracts

*
How the Prisons and Jails are filled...*

   - 21% of charges in Adult court are for “administration of justice”
   charges, such as “failure to appear”, “breach of an undertaking” and parole
   violations - these charges result in a high proportion of custodial (jail)
   sentences
   - Another 23% are for property crimes, a predictable outcome of poverty,
   inequality and addiction
   - 7% are for drug charges; however this understates the importance of
   the ‘drug war’ as a mechanism for mass incarceration of poor people and
   native people because many people end up in prison on an 'administration of
   justice' charge that originates from a drug charge

*Who's Inside...*

   - More people: incarceration rates are rising with more than 250,000
   people incarcerated at some point in 2008/9
   - Poor People: According to Conservative Senator Hugh Segal people
   living below the poverty line make up less than 10% of the general
   population but close to 100% of incarcerated people
   - Native People: are about 4% of the population but at least 20% of
   incarcerated people; 41% of Native people in prison are under 25 years old
   - People of Colour: 2.5% of people in Canada are Black/ African-Canadian
   but 9.12% of people in prison self-identify as Black
   - People who use drugs: 4 out of 5 incarcerated people are identified as
   having “serious substance abuse problems”










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