Overcrowding in Saskatchewan's jails is resulting in an increasing number of complaints from prisoners, according to the provincial ombudsman.
In his annual report, released Thursday in the legislature, ombudsman Kevin Fenwick said he received 668 complaints about the corrections ministry in 2009, the highest level in five years.
Much of the increase is attributable to issues related to overcrowding, Fenwick said.
"The correctional centres we have in Saskatchewan were designed to house probably no more than two-thirds, perhaps a half, the number of inmates we have there now," Fenwick said. "The situation is serious and can become critical as we anticipate that more inmates will be sent to the jails as a result of hiring more police officers and the changes to the federal law."
Fenwick says right now some inmates are being housed in substandard conditions including gymnasiums, programming rooms and even some parts of the old Regina correctional centre that were supposed to be closed.
The opening of the new addition to the Regina correctional centre in 2008 allowed many inmates to move out of substandard areas, but there is still a shortage of cells, he said.
Fenwick said he knows that the province is facing budget cuts, but it's vital that planned capital projects, such as the proposed new remand centre for Saskatoon, proceed.
It's also important that money for skills and education programs in the jails continues to flow, he said.
Programming makes jails safer by keeping inmates focused on learning and development. An overcrowded jail with a lack of programming is a recipe for disaster, including a higher risk for violent outbreaks, Fenwick said.
Yogi Huyghebaert, the minister responsible for corrections, said the government understands the problem but can't afford to build new facilities this year.
"It's very easy for somebody to suggest, 'Well, it's unlimited dollars, go ahead and do it.' No, that's not the way we operate," he said. "We have an infrastructure budget this year and I compete for that."
Among the previously announced projects that are being delayed due to budget restraints is the remand centre in Saskatoon.
Huyghebaert said he's confident the centre will make it in to next year's budget.
Fenwick's report covers jails, which are run by the province and typically house prisoners awaiting court dates or serving sentences of less than two years. Prisoners serving sentences of more than two years typically serve them at federal penitentiaries.
Saskatchewan's jails are dangerously overcrowded and offer little programming to help inmates turn their lives around, the ombudsman says.
It's an arresting statistic: Saskatchewan had the highest adult incarceration rate of all provinces according to a 2009 Statistics Canada report.
Little surprise then that Saskatchewan's ombudsman received 668 complaints in 2009 about Saskatchewan's correctional centres. It's the highest number of complaints in five years -- and much of it was "related to overcrowding", Kevin Fenwick said in his annual report this week.
The province's four secure adult facilities facilities are designed to take 834 inmates, but the number peaked at 1,364 in the past year, the Corrections Ministry says.
Prison authorities are being forced to house inmates in program rooms and gymnasiums -- and old, substandard areas of the Regina Correctional Centre. Fenwick says overcrowded jails with a lack of programming like Saskatchewan's are "a recipe for disaster":
- Overcrowding and lack of space limits the delivery of programs offering inmates marketable skills and personal awareness they can use to find work and stay out of trouble upon release.
- It's "more difficult to separate gangs or other inmates" who may harm each other.
- The combination of little programming to relieve boredom and give inmates something to focus on plus the tension caused by overcrowding increases "the potential for violence and harm to correctional workers and to other inmates".
In its 2009 report on provincial jail incarceration rates, Statistics Canada found that Saskatchewan had 187 adults behind bars per 100,000 population. Manitoba was second highest at 177, while Nova Scotia (59) and Newfoundland and Labrador (68) were lowest.
There are a couple of factors behind Saskatchewan's high numbers.
First, the province has the highest provincial rate of aboriginals behind bars: 81 per cent of adults sentenced to custody in this province in 2007-08 were aboriginal, despite comprising just 11 per cent of the population. The Canadian rate was 22 per cent (aboriginals make up only three per cent of the national population). Unemployment, poverty, addictions and poor educational attainment are all factors behind the aboriginal incarceration rate.
Second, this province -- along with the rest of the country -- has seen an increase in the number of people remanded in custody while awaiting trial or sentence. The wheels of justice often turn slowly and on average, almost 40 per cent of adults in custody in Saskatchewan in 2008-09 were on remand.
The recent provincial budget dented hopes of relieving the pressure on the correctional system when no funding was provided for work on a proposed remand centre in Saskatoon and Corrections Minister Yogi Huyghebaert admits he's "in competition for dollars" with other ministries.
Putting money into prisons isn't a vote-winner, but locking people up in overcrowded conditions with little or no rehabilitation and then expecting them to come back into society with a productive new attitude is dangerously naive.
It's an arresting statistic: Saskatchewan had the highest adult incarceration rate of all provinces according to a 2009 Statistics Canada report.
Little surprise then that Saskatchewan's ombudsman received 668 complaints in 2009 about Saskatchewan's correctional centres. It's the highest number of complaints in five years -- and much of it was "related to overcrowding", Kevin Fenwick said in his annual report this week.
The province's four secure adult facilities facilities are designed to take 834 inmates, but the number peaked at 1,364 in the past year, the Corrections Ministry says.
Prison authorities are being forced to house inmates in program rooms and gymnasiums -- and old, substandard areas of the Regina Correctional Centre. Fenwick says overcrowded jails with a lack of programming like Saskatchewan's are "a recipe for disaster":
- Overcrowding and lack of space limits the delivery of programs offering inmates marketable skills and personal awareness they can use to find work and stay out of trouble upon release.
- It's "more difficult to separate gangs or other inmates" who may harm each other.
- The combination of little programming to relieve boredom and give inmates something to focus on plus the tension caused by overcrowding increases "the potential for violence and harm to correctional workers and to other inmates".
In its 2009 report on provincial jail incarceration rates, Statistics Canada found that Saskatchewan had 187 adults behind bars per 100,000 population. Manitoba was second highest at 177, while Nova Scotia (59) and Newfoundland and Labrador (68) were lowest.
There are a couple of factors behind Saskatchewan's high numbers.
First, the province has the highest provincial rate of aboriginals behind bars: 81 per cent of adults sentenced to custody in this province in 2007-08 were aboriginal, despite comprising just 11 per cent of the population. The Canadian rate was 22 per cent (aboriginals make up only three per cent of the national population). Unemployment, poverty, addictions and poor educational attainment are all factors behind the aboriginal incarceration rate.
Second, this province -- along with the rest of the country -- has seen an increase in the number of people remanded in custody while awaiting trial or sentence. The wheels of justice often turn slowly and on average, almost 40 per cent of adults in custody in Saskatchewan in 2008-09 were on remand.
The recent provincial budget dented hopes of relieving the pressure on the correctional system when no funding was provided for work on a proposed remand centre in Saskatoon and Corrections Minister Yogi Huyghebaert admits he's "in competition for dollars" with other ministries.
Putting money into prisons isn't a vote-winner, but locking people up in overcrowded conditions with little or no rehabilitation and then expecting them to come back into society with a productive new attitude is dangerously naive.
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