THUNDER BAY – Toronto – Today, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak announced that a PC government would require inmates at provincial facilities to give back to society and work up to forty hours per week of manual labour. “We’re not asking convicted prisoners to do anything more than what hard-working Ontario families do every day: work,” states Hudak. “Prisoners, through their own actions, have taken enough from society. It’s time they give something back.”
If elected on October 6, a Tim Hudak government will end the practice of letting convicted prisoners spend their time watching TV and will require work programs to be mandatory. “Under Dalton McGuinty, prisoners in Ontario are given perks like “Freeing the Human Spirit” yoga classes, writing workshops, cooking classes and premium cable television with high definition channels. While Dalton McGuinty allows taxpayers’ money to pay for perks, work for prisoners is voluntary,” charges the PC leader.
An elected Tim Hudak government would:
- Make convicted criminals work up to 40 hours per week of manual labour (rake leaves, cut grass, pick up trash, clean graffiti)
- Make this work mandatory, not voluntary, as it is now under Dalton McGuinty
- Make criminals earn credits, through work, for the benefits they receive (instead of getting them without earning them as they do now)