NOT WHAT VETERANS FOUGHT FOR

On the facing page, a reader observes there's something wrong when
veterans are objects of private charity, while taxpayers fund tattoo
parlours for convicts.

There is something in what he says, though veterans who navigate the
bureaucratic silos usually find it worthwhile.

It is hard to find anything to praise in the tattoo project, however.
It just seems depressingly consistent with Corrections Canada's focus
on rehabilitation, not punishment.

Over the years, Corrections Canada has consulted prisoner
focus-groups on guard uniforms, for instance, and decided guards
would have a better relationship with inmates if the tools of
restraint -- handcuffs, for instance, were taken from them.

And yes, convicts wanting a sex-change can get it paid for.

Tattoo parlours, it appears, will be justified on the same grounds as
the ready availability of condoms in prisons -- harm prevention: If
the lads are going to do it anyway, better make sure they do it safely.

On the same basis, Ottawa is considering a needle exchange program.
One might suppose a facility secure enough to keep people in, should
be able to keep drugs out. Apparently not; prisoners have privacy
rights during visits.

Corrections Canada has its priorities out of synch with ordinary
taxpayers. Spending $700,000 to let convicts tattoo each other
insults Canadians, and impoverished veterans, now the link has been drawn.

As our letter writer neglected to say, many young men got tattooed as
part of their service life. But, they paid for it themselves.