They’re finally doing it. The Conservative government, despite the colossus of evidence brought forth by enraged Canadians and the warnings of our neighbours to the south, is cracking down on crime in the most draconian way possible. The Safe Streets and Communities Act, which will appear in Parliament this fall, is a Herculean overhaul of a machine that needs only nuanced tweaking. By defying lawyers and crime experts, and astounding international onlookers, Harper and his cabinet will engulf Canada in debt and make themselves look incredibly stupid in the process.

First, the facts: measures included in the bill are keeping young offenders in jail for longer, eliminating pardons for some serious crimes, stroking out house arrest for property crimes, and tougher penalties for drug-related offenses. One can quibble about the scope of punishments, but there’s a larger problem here. None of these elements tackle the societal problem of crime at its roots; they merely try to stamp out its effects.

In mid-August, the Canadian Bar Association looked at the bill and turned up their noses in disgust. Their biggest concern was that the bill could widen the gaping hole into which Canada’s system often throws mentally ill offenders. The bill has no alternative provisions for crimes committed by the mentally ill, and in effect, clinical psychologists are traded for prison wardens.  

The crime rate in Canada has steadily declined since 1973, and the majority of Canadians would like to see that trend continue. But does tabling this bill mean that Harper and his cronies are doing, as they are claiming, what Canadians want? To interpret May’s Conservative majority election results as a message from Canadians that they support the Safe Streets and Communities Act requires a certain amount of political illiteracy and obstinacy that could only be expected from the Harper government. According to The John Howard Society of Canada and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, both advocacy groups for convicts’ rights, “In order to prevent more men, women, and especially children, from being marginalized, victimized, criminalized and imprisoned, Canadians are telling us and politicians that they would rather see their hard-earned tax dollars spent on public housing, child care, pensions, health care, mental health services, public education, victims, and other social services.” These are the things that will decrease crime, much more so than simply stuffing more people in jail for longer, which, by the way, will cost millions. In a strange flip-flop of characteristic Conservative action, the Tories are hoping to launch a state-guided project with national scope, one that will expand correctional facilities at the estimated cost of up to $2.1 billion.

This is the very, very last thing the government should spend money on. And it’s the very best thing to do if they want to look brutally outdated and misinformed. Like a child who fixes his playing-with-fire mistake by trying to blow out the burning building, the Conservative party has forgotten that simply starting by learning how to use a match—and when not to strike it—might suffice.