Sentencing act to cost billions: report

A new act that limits credit given to prisoners for time served in custody before and during their trials will cost taxpayers $1 billion to implement and billions more to maintain, the parliamentary budget officer said Tuesday.

More than half of the expected total, $1.8 billion, will go towards constructing new correctional facilities, the PBO said in a report quantifying the implications of the Truth in Sentencing Act. A further $618 million will be needed annually for capital appropriations and operations and maintenance costs.

The numbers are rough estimates, which the PBO suggested was due to unwillingness on the part of the federal government to provide significant data.

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Read the PBO's report. Tom

Budget watchdog probing summits' $1-billion price tag

Tories must provide records on security costs, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says

Steven Chase

Parliament’s budget watchdog has begun probing the hefty and controversial $1-billion security bill for the two global summits the Harper government is holding next month in Ontario.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says his study will founder, however, if the Conservatives fail to provide him with the necessary records to scrutinize policing and protective spending for the Group of Eight and Group of 20 meetings.

“We will investigate with the purpose of issuing a report for parliamentarians and Canadians,” Mr. Page told The Globe and Mail.

“For the report to be helpful, we will need co-operation from the government on information and this will need to be done in a timely manner.”

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Anyone think the Conservative government is going to cooperate with the budget watchdog? Tom