Canadian woman found guilty in Mexico treated as a queen in Canada

We have been given yet another demonstration of Canada’s feminist jurisprudence as a chartered government jet was sent to Mexico to fetch a convicted female criminal. She is now enjoying the facilities at the Grand Valley Club Fed for women. Maybe she will have another shot of becoming the prison queen as well? See the article and picture by Megan Smith, Sat. Apr. 12, 2008, called “Canadian prisoner Brenda Martin unwinds during beauty pageant”

She has been tried and found guilty in front of a court of competent jurisdiction, even if that court happens to be in Mexico. The only “evidence” of her innocence is her word alone.

Many Canadian men, who equally claim innocence, are languishing under horrendous conditions, including torture, in foreign, as well as Canadian, jails. I have yet to hear any of them having had their fines paid by the government, flown home in a private chartered jet, served cappucino and fresh fruit while being wished happy home coming. All curtesy of us taxpayers, mainly men.

Ironically, while the tear-jerking drama of the "abuse of justice in Mexico" was being played to the hilt, we also were privy to see Robert Baltovitch found not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, for which he spent 8 years in jail. Her body has never been found. No-one offered him a cup of cappucino. Read an interview with the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty on this subject. Excerpt:

'... Paul Cook: "What about financial compensation. Would you consider offering Baltovich some form of compensation, even though he has not specifically requested it yet?"

Dalton McGuinty: "Well, again I'm sure that is something his lawyers are going to consider and I would be surprised if that kind of request was not forthcoming. Again, I think the responsible thing for us to do is carefully weigh that...again, I'll turn to my attorney general and say what do you think is appropriate in these kind of circumstances. As a society, from time to time, people get caught in our justice system here, through no fault of their own, so what we got to do is ask ourselves is how do we make this thing that went wrong right. That's fundamentally the question that the attorney-general's going to have to advise me on."'

Then read the treatment offered to Brenda Martin: "Martin back on Canadian soil" Fri, May 2, 2008 By JOE WARMINGTON, SUN MEDIA. Excerpt:

'TORONTO -- Fresh fruit and a cappuccino greeted Brenda Martin as she stepped onto the Canadian Challenger jet yesterday that brought her home from her two-year Mexican prison nightmare.

And moments after the wheels left Mexican soil Canadian officials also removed her handcuffs and told her to enjoy her flight to her homeland and eventual freedom.

... McTeague said if there is one lesson to be learned, it's to ensure Canada improves its consular structures and protocols for Canadians incarcerated abroad. ...
"She is going to get mental and physical help," said her mom. "And she needs it."'

Have a peep inside Grand Valley: Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI). From the site:

'Grand Valley Institution was originally modeled on a "village" concept, with ten 8-inmate sloped-roof cottages surrounded by a grass lawn, and all the administrative services shared in a separate wing on the east side of the prison. Each cottage includes a public living room, dining room, porch, and kitchen, and a private laundry, study, and bathroom. The architecture resembles its strict programmatic division: administration, visitation, casework, gymnasium, education, and health care are all self-contained within their own units, and are all connected by a loggia that faces the common area outside. Instead of the traditional panoptical ring of cells surrounding a central security and observation booth, the prison surrounds a multipurpose (politically-correct) chapel. According to the Architectural Record, the design involves light-filled corridors, sloped grounds, subdued colours, natural maple millwork, and indirect lighting, giving the facility an "uninstitutional" quality.

To promote self-sufficiency, prisoners in each cottage of Grand Valley cook their own food, and tend their own gardens. Because of self-sufficiency, a wooden infrastructure instead of a concrete infrastructure, and the potential higher level of inmate-pride in housekeeping, each unit costs 30% to 50% less than traditional penitentiary designs, according to Correctional Services Canada.'

The cost of housing an offender each year by security levels:
- Maximum security: $121,294
- Medium security: $80,545
- Minimum security and farms: $83,297
- Women's facilities: $166,830
- Average institution: $93,030
- Community correctional centres: $54,276
- Parole: $21,565
- Average community: $23,076
- Average cost of maintaining offender: $74,261

Source: Correctional Service of Canada