Tattoos for convicts

I got a flyer from my MP yesterday, and it really irked me. It said things like,

"The Conservatives believe that Criminals should not receive free luxuries at the expense of taxpayers, who themselves would have to pay for such things"

and

"I was against free tattoos for convicts and am proud our government ended this Liberal program"

I don't usually get involved, or write letters, or anything, but I was just so irked, that I sent the following email:


Rod Bruinooge

I reside in the Winnipeg South electoral district and yesterday received your "getting THINGS DONE" flyer, where you proudly mention that the free tattoos for convicts program was cancelled.

I imagine that the program may have seemed to you and your government a superfluous freebie for convicts, but I think in fact that you may have completely misunderstood the program.

It is my understanding that the free tattoo program was a public health intervention, geared towards minimizing transmission of needle-borne infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis and HIV in the prison setting. I believe the rationale was that providing free tattoos in a clean, safe, controlled environment was less expensive than providing health care for these infections. Additionally, preventing spread of infectious disease is important to the health of all Canadians.

I'll be sure to post his reply, if I get one. The thing that really upsets me, is that it seems that he just didn't understand the program. It's not about about tattoos, it's about health. We're Canadians - we're all about health, and we should be! Unfortunately, others who don't think about infectious diseases all the time (like I do) might have received the flyer, and also not really understood the health implications- because the information wasn't provided to them.