What do you think of prisoners getting pension and old age security money?

All they have to do is charge him for his keep and board once the pension kicks in.

Very good idea! Too many bleeding hearts here, though.

Why should convicted criminals earn money for being in prison? That’s incentive to commit crime.

It’s money he’s getting from Canada because he’s 65.

You pay your criminals? Bad policy.

Hence the protests.

It sounds like a horrible thing when you look at it on an individual level, but in the bigger picture, I think it is in the best interest of society to not allow stripping the rights of criminals. Innocent people end up imprisoned too often in my country for that to work. And further, once you okay stripping human rights away from one “class” of people – or creating different groups of society that get different benefits (preferential treatment), it makes it just a little bit easier to extend such practices to other people. A slippery slope, not worth the cost you pay. For all you know, the serial killer maintained a productive, seemingly “normal” lifestyle (as they often do) and paid more than $14k in taxes over his lifetime pre-incarceration. In that case, it may be upsetting but it isn’t costing you anything.

No personal masseuse?? That ‘s cruel and unusual punishment!!

@lilikoi I think if you kill 11 children there are no perks for you.

@faye

How sure are you about who killed them? Would you be willing to stake your life, and your perks, on it?

Where do you draw the line? At what shade of gray? At murderers? At rapists? At petty thieves? How about “terrorists” (in my country, that could be anyone, even you or me)?

Are you really so confident in the justice system to believe that all who are imprisoned are guilty? How about those held without trial?

Stories like Zeitoun’s, make me confident that it is better to be extra merciful than ultra vengeful. Stripping the rights of innocents can be an injustice as much as not taking them from serial killers.

It is hard to feel sorry for someone that commits such heinous crimes, but then many serial killers have had gruesome childhood experiences themselves—Not a defense, but something to keep in mind.

Withholding $14K from a convict will not undo wrongdoings. It does not bring the children back from the dead. A serial killer is not going to rethink murder because his $14K will be revoked if he gets caught. As prev. said, innocent people incarcerated would then lose, and potentially society at large as well. Is it worth it?

Rather than debating who gets what rights, we should focus on understanding serial killers so that it doesn’t take 11 murders to catch the criminal.

There is more to this story than written above

@lilikoi He did it. He confessed in full. Some of the children’s bodies had been found and he knew details that had not been made public. Some of the other bodies had not been found and he told the police where to find them. Before he did that though he got the government to make $100,000 payment to his wife for her and his son’s support.

Also he is not getting the pension in prison. It is being put in trust. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of the earlier with the money going to his heirs when he dies. Obviously prisoners aren’t automatically eligible for pensions or thousand would be collecting. I’ m pretty sure it will be revealed as part of his original deal with the Canadian govt.

I just saw on our news that the law states all Canadians are eligible for the old age money and that our prime minister wants to investigate this, as we’re paying fro room and board and guards. Included in our news was the fact that US does not allow pensions and the UK does not allow the old age security.

Like I said. he isn’t getting the cash, it is going into a trust.

@galileogirl Mr.Harper’s idea is that he shouldn’t get it at all, especially after the payout.

Here in the states we have a concept called due process. The govt can’t treat people differently because they are unpopular. If prisoners receive pensions then they all must be treated the same. If you don’t like it Canadians should change the law for all institutionalized Canadians.

The US does not allow its prisoners’ pensions. Yes, that is why the government is investigating as I said.

Three Hots and a Cot, that’s all they deserve… Nothing more.

Depends on how you look at it, he earned that pension prior to his conviction, likely a good portion of it prior to his commission of any crime. So you can’t really justify taking, at least that portion, away. However, because he has income he should be liable for the costs incurred by the state in trying him. Hell, I have to pay court costs if I contest a speeding ticket and lose (usually higher than the ticket), why shouldn’t he have to pay his?

Do you want him to murder grocery store owners while he’s hunting for food? Or should we give him a gun and send him into the wilderness to find food.

They shouldn’t get a single penny.

@mattbrowne He’s being well fed in jail- life sentence.

@faye – Yes, because we as a free society are committed to a code of ethics and core values we hold dear. If we let people starve to death on purpose, we are not really much better than murderers.

There is no starving involved- it’s about getting pension and old age benefits while in prison for heinous crimes.

It doesn’t really matter what any of us think, it’s up to Canadians to do something about it through legislation. As always, talk is cheap.

Prisoners in the U.S. not only get social security but also get disability benefits if they prove that they are so unsociable that they cannot get a job.

That is part of the problem with the social security program. I believe that social security benefits to should apply only to those that have contributed to it. Other programs should be established for non-contributors but it doesn’t make sense to have an insurance program for those who never contributed to the program.

If the person is going to be in prison until he dies, why should he get any government money? And any money he might have paid in in the past has long been used up.

@faye I completely agree but there are actually prison rights groups that think that prisoner’s benefits should be increased.

I thought that if your getting free room and board like a hospital or prison that you didn’t get OAS but you got to keep your pension… but I guess that rule only affects the disabled