The Conservative government has curtailed the program, which allowed prisoner to have safe and hygienic tattoos in the prisons. This act of the government has been put under scrutiny by some as they assert that canceling the save parlour would increase the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. The spread of these diseases are in endemic in prisons because inmates are ten times more likely to contract HIV as they share tattoo needle.
According to Richard Elliott, deputy director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the move is quite irresponsible since the prisoners use un-sterile homemade tattoo equipments and thus are more prone to the deadly disease. He states that it is a violation against the rights of prisoners to deny them access to sterile equipment. Restricting the program will be as putting the lives of the general people at stake.
Conservatives Stockwell Day, federal public safety minister, said, ‘Our government will not spend taxpayers’ money on providing tattoos for convicted criminals. Our priority is to have an effective federal corrections system that protects Canadians, while providing inmates with access to acceptable health care and treatment programs.”
The project’s expenditure is of $600,000 to operate. Start-up costs totaled $350,000. However, the activists assure that the tattoo parlor program will save money in long run because curing the disease of these patients is more expensive than the expenses of the safe tattoo parlor program.