YOU VS. YOUR LATENIGHT SWEET TOOTH THE SHOWDOWN {page 4}
GROWING IT IN OTHER NEWS: THE PLAYOFF BEARD RETURNS {page 21}
LONDON
Weekend, May 27-29, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
Criminals will work for rewards, Tories vow
Rain. Dance?
Liberals accused of handing criminals yoga lessons, cooking classes and premium cable
Shango drums away on a congo drum at the bustling corner of Richmond and Dundas streets on a surprisingly warm and dry Thursday afternoon. KYLE REA/METRO
Drumming up some humidity? While downtown London is set to get even busier with a host of festivals and activities this summer, Mother Nature isn’t co-operating as rainy weather is forecast for the rest of the week. After that, it looks like it’ll get muggy: The humidex is expected to reach the high 30s at times from Sunday to Tuesday.
Ontario could see prison work crews cleaning graffiti and raking leaves along highways in towns and cities if the Progressive Conservatives form the next government. Tory Leader Tim Hudak is making a bold play for votes ahead of the Oct. 6 election by vowing to put provincial inmates to work if he takes the reins of power. In what’s being billed as a Canadian first, inmates in Ontario prisons would be forced to perform 40 hours of manual labour a week to earn rewards like coffee and gym time, he said. “Prisoners can watch TV, they can play cards, they can play poker at the same time we do — after a good day’s work,” Hudak said. The Tories, who have eclipsed the ruling Liberals in public opinion polls, said they would allocate $20 million to fund the program, which would put inmates to work outside prison grounds. Provincial prisons house offenders awaiting trial, as well as those serving less than two years for offences such as break and enter, assault and drug trafficking. Hudak said he would only force those who are “found guilty
“I’m not asking prisoners to anything more than what hardworking Ontario families do each and every day — and that is, go to work.” TORY LEADER TIM HUDAK
and are serving in our correctional institutions” to do the work. His election promise is reminiscent of former premier Mike Harris’s “workfare” program, which forced able-bodied people on welfare to work for their benefits. THE CANADIAN PRESS