It would appear that the CTF is desperate for publicity, more interested in generating headlines than in promoting sensible policy for taxpayers.  And what better way to do so than to take an idea and make the oh so visceral link to that Canadian poster boy of evil: Clifford Robert Olson.  Because who in their right mind would argue for giving OAS to Mr. Olson?  What better way to avoid close scrutiny of a stupid idea.  The first point to be made is that the majority of inmates are not Clifford Robert Olson or Paul Bernardo clones. So let's not run amok thinking of policy solutions based on extreme cases and the emotions they generate.  One question people should ask is what is the actual impact of denying all criminals OAS?  Well, there are about 350 offenders in federal prison who are over 65.  That's it (I will exclude provincial offenders who serve extremely short sentences (weeks.. not years) and are mostly under 65).  Furthermore, what about the dependants some of them have?  What would be the impact of such a policy on them?  For the most part criminals and their families occupy the very bottom of the economic rungs of society and is it sensible to victimize the families of these offenders in our rush to be vindictive?  Prison is usually a temporary state and some of these offenders have ongoing obligations that may not be forgiven because they are in prison: for example, financial debts such as mortgages.  And most of these offenders will be released to the community sooner or later on parole or day parole.  Should these benefits continue to be withheld?  And what would this do to their chance of successfully staying out of trouble?  And what about the folk who successfully appeal their conviction?  Should they get all of their OAS back with interest?  Not to mention the additional costs of administering an exceptional system of inclusions and exclusions which will probably have a system of appeals.  And I would argue that at the end of it all, very few people will be excluded from receiving OAS, but at a substantial increase in cost to administer this program and probably divert costs from the OAS system to the social welfare system.  All for the feel good emotions that get produced by knowing we have taken our pound of flesh from those who are, for the most part, marginalized and indigent people.  The CTF is being disingenuous in its approach to this issue, trying to capitalize on emotions without being clear on the potential negative impact or even practicality of their suggestion (assuming they looked past the headlines and soundbites).  I, as a taxpayer, am unimpressed.  And while I don't think that Clifford Robert Olson should get OAS the solution being promoted risks being even more morally compromised.

I think it's despictable that convicted killers are getting 1200 dollars a month in jail, when everything they need and want is already paid for by us the Taxpayer.

All prisoners should pay for the cost of their prison term, the pension may consider as part of their payment. The outstanding balance should be taking from their personal banking account.

Only in Canada would a Conservative lobby group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Taxpayers_Federation#Links_to_conservative_political_parties) feel the need to cloak itself as a "citizen taxpayer advocacy group", espouse policies supporting such fiscally questionable initiatives as a war on crime during a period in which crime rates are plummeting, and claim that programs that have been in place forever are "relevations"; all while trashing their $7 million cost, yet totally ignoring the elephant in the room in the guise of a Conservative stimulus program that has produced negligible results (according to another Conversative thinktank) while adding $53 billion to the national deficit.

Nice work...don't quit your day jobs kids.

Seniors in government run old age homes must use their pensions to pay for their expenses. These pensions should be taken from the convicts and used to cover their expenses. Why should law-abiding citizens be forced to use all of their pensions for their upkeep and these miserable scum of society be allowed to keep their pensions. This is totally ridiculous. Another brilliant idea from our government.