Field research for Dan Gardner

In his latest blog post, Ottawa Citizen columnist asked, "Are they ignorant, dishonest, or both?" about the bewildering chasm between Conservative Party rhetoric about crime policy and actual crime trends.

This exclusive photo reveals the identity of the Conservatives' prison farms consultant, which in turns answers a lot of Dan's questions:

Makes for a splendid image, but what does it mean?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure offhand--I recall hearing about it--but I think there's something to be learned about it in a recent panel that included Dan Gardner (described by Zoom! here), the transcript of which can be downloaded from CBC here (mp3). I've downloaded that podcast, but I've yet to listen to it. Considering the Conservatives' terrible record on criminal justice policy, I'd probably agree with it anyway.

- RG>