The lowest bidder is ... in prison

[bossi]

Army turns to cons for aid
By Kathleen Harris, Ottawa Bureau 

THE COUNTRY'S prison labour program has landed a $16.5-million contract to fix rusted-out trucks for the military. Sidestepping the normal bidding process for awarding government contracts, the department of national defence quietly handed CORCAN the job of repairing "heavy logistical vehicles." Five penitentiaries across the country will undergo workshop renovations to accommodate the long rigs.

Sylvain Martel, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said guards are concerned about adequate supervision and safety during large-scale operations.

"Those big DND trucks can go through just about anything," he said. "We've had incidents in the past, with smaller trucks going through fences -- and escapes follow."

Working on the huge trucks will also give inmates access to tools that could be converted to dangerous weapons, he warned.

But CORCAN spokesman Ellen Henderson said participating institutions are working out detailed security plans.

"The vehicles will be disabled when they arrive at the institution. They are inspected by CSC security when they arrive, then they're disabled, then they're inspected as they leave after the work is finished," she said.

The work will give inmates valuable work experience that will help them find employment upon release, she said. In past, inmates have made bedding and foot lockers for the military, she said. Inmates are paid a maximum of $6.90 a day for the work.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/11/17/717963.html 

 

[Bograt]

Jesus H. Effin Christ. Pardon my language.

I don't know what is more obscene. Th fact that prisoners are going to work on DND vehicles, or the fact they get paid 6.50/hour.

Has everyone gone completely mad? In what boardroom does this decision make sense?

 

[63 Delta]

I believe it is 6.90 a day not an hour, according to the article.

 

[Bograt]

Thanks for pointing that out. Now, I'm not so upset.

 

[JBP]

That goes to show you also that the Canadian Armed Forces don't have the personnel or funds to do the project themselves so they'll do it for cheaper. That should be thier only excuse for not giving this job to the actual Reg Force Mechanics that are working right now right?

???

 

[Marauder]

It would be comical if were an Air Farce skit, but this shit is just fucking retarded. How in the hell do we give the reins to people who make these sort of decisions???

 

[FastEddy]

That goes to show you also that the Canadian Armed Forces don't have the personnel or funds to do the project themselves so they'll do it for cheaper. That should be thier only excuse for not giving this job to the actual Reg Force Mechanics that are working right now right?

???

To add   to the above, thats a pretty big repair bill (16.5 mil.).

As Recruit Joe points out, why couldn't the Can. Gov. use it to Recruit sufficient personnel and train them in that trade. We already have the facilities and Workshops. Never mind the unemployment rate in Canada, lets give the jobs to Cons.

How much is it going to cost to set up those 5 installations ?.

And completely dis-regarding the Correctional Officers concerns, because some pencil pusher says, we're taking it under consideration and providing safety measures etc. etc..

Have you looked at Corcan operating costs (just in Admin).

Rehabilitation, Oh Yeah!, the next time a Early release (now recent Heavy Equipment Mechanic) rapes, kidnaps or murders a member of your Family, just remember you thought this was a great Idea the rightway, PC and the moral thing to do.

But in my opinion, Prison means Punishment not the Hilton Pen.

 

[Pte. Bloggins]

Unfortunately this isn't a joke, I heard about this at my unit as well. Some of the LS's we're using were recently refurbished by CORCAN, and apparently the cons messed around with the electrical system, as the first time they turned the power on in the pod the wiring all round the walls caught fire. 

 

[ArmyRick]

I can't beleive this but at the same i know it is true. DND should be disbanded and the Canadian Forces should be left to run themselves.
This is disgusting, please feel free to launch letters of complaints agaisnt your MP. This really unacceptable. I can just hear all the left-wing, liberal loving, there-are-no-terrorist-only-bad-americans type bleeding hearts applauding such a noble decision for the Canadian military along with "PeaceKeeping" and SHARP.

 

[Devlin]

Letter sent to MPP and a few others. 

Just a thought but maybe if we all sent a letter, this may get talked about or at least kicked around in the media a bit.

This is just nuts... someone in Ottawa has truly lost their mind.

 

[Spartan]

an  Idea -( not that I support prisoners having all rights ala the charter, or even being paid with my money)
why not for petty crimes - like robbery etc - be a part of their sentence that they must successfully complete community servcie ala the military before any talks of release. Not only does the military benefit- we get a ton of new recruits that can be locked into time frames of commitments -depending on the crimes, but the justice sysem benefits as the overcrowded jails are substantially thinned. As a further condition of this - we can have sex offenders, murders and perverts -do mine clearance in any mine riddled country where everyone including children have the risk of losing an apendage every moment of their day - under the supervision of CF troops. - they are fed, and are issued a mine clearing stick and a buddy. Both have x kilometers to clear and then they will be considered for a lighter sentence if they can successfully show that their x kilometers are completely free from mines.
Unfortunately for this venture (or fortunately as the mines would be cleared) we have an endless supply of labourers.
So not only does International Affiars, foreign aid ventures, the CF, and the justice system all benefit.

 

[Infanteer]

Been discussed before.  The military is a professional institution that focuses on the profession of arms, not a reformatory organization.

 

[Spartan]

But wouldn't you be creating professionals and thus new useful members of society?

 

[NavyGrunt]

Well Im going to again be on the other side- if this program was set up properly and the offenders used were screened I think it would be beneficial. I believe that offenders should be working in prison. However this program should be only using low risk offenders. And a heavy duty mechanic should give it a go over when they are through so the wiring story doesnt happen again.

You have to pay offenders while they are in jail. When they get out they need the small amount of cash to set themselves up so they dont reoffend out of desperation. 6.90 a day is a fair amount- and they only get that if they are on good behavior.

Prison pop is a cheap labor pool. A hundred years ago they had to sew mountie uniforms....

However I believe that the program will be half baked and all your concerns will come to fruition....thats the government way.

 

[48Highlander]

an  Idea -( not that I support prisoners having all rights ala the charter, or even being paid with my money)
why not for petty crimes - like robbery etc - be a part of their sentence that they must successfully complete community servcie ala the military before any talks of release. Not only does the military benefit- we get a ton of new recruits that can be locked into time frames of commitments -depending on the crimes, but the justice sysem benefits as the overcrowded jails are substantially thinned.

At the same time military jails start overflowing, and discipline problems become the norm rather than the exception.

Think about it, what are the main "tools" use to enforce discipline within the CF?

1)  A charge which results in jail time, a monetary fine, or a negative mark on the members record
2)  Release from the CF

That's it.  And in my experience as an instructor anyway, release is the one used more often.  New troops behave because they don't want to fail off a course.  So if the next course I instruct on I suddenly have 5 convicts who have absolutely no interest in being there, what the hell am I supposed to do with them?  Somehow I don't think red-chits would be too effective.  In order to make your idea work, we'd have to go back to allowing physical abuse.

As a further condition of this - we can have sex offenders, murders and perverts -do mine clearance in any mine riddled country where everyone including children have the risk of losing an apendage every moment of their day - under the supervision of CF troops. - they are fed, and are issued a mine clearing stick and a buddy. Both have x kilometers to clear and then they will be considered for a lighter sentence if they can successfully show that their x kilometers are completely free from mines.

Yeah, good luck selling that one to the liberals   Even I think that'd be wrong, so I'd love to see the responses of the lefties.

 

[McG]

As a further condition of this - we can have sex offenders, murders and perverts -do mine clearance in any mine riddled country where everyone including children have the risk of losing an apendage every moment of their day - under the supervision of CF troops. - they are fed, and are issued a mine clearing stick and a buddy. Both have x kilometers to clear and then they will be considered for a lighter sentence if they can successfully show that their x kilometers are completely free from mines.

1) Military service involves firearms training.  I don't think we need to be giving this to criminals.

2) Proper mine clearance involves the use of explosives.  I don't think we want to expose criminals to this.

3) I'm really not sure what they will do with the stick. Beat the mines?

 

[pbi]

To me the issue isn't that cons do public works: they should work, hard and productively, for whatever they get. For some of them it will be the first time in their lives. It isn't even that they have some form of motivation/reward system: anybody who has a schmick about behaviour modification (which, IIRC, is one of the roles of prisons) knows that without reward/motivation you won't do too much modification. (The reverse, of course, being swift and effective punishment...).

It's that PWGSC (and I bet it's them and NOT DND, unless it's a very low-value contract) would let this contract directly within the Govt instead of letting legitimate business bid on it. Cheers.

 

[marshall sl]

"Well Im going to again be on the other side- if this program was set up properly and the offenders used"

Just want to clarify something. Offenders are convicted persons serving their sentance in the community. (Parole,Statutory release.) Inmates are serving their time in a pennitentiary 

 

[NavyGrunt]

Actually the offenders are everyone in the system.

 

[NavyGrunt]

http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/carinf/correctional_e.shtml

Notice how they talk about monitoring "offender" movement. Its a new PC millenium....Marshall