Far more inmates than beds

BORIS MINKEVICH/ WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Headingley Correctional Centre.

Manitoba is desperately in need of new jails and fast, the union representing provincial guards will tell the province today.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union will be among those making a presentation to an independent jail-capacity review committee at a hearing in Winnipeg today.

And the message is simple.

"Overcrowding is the No. 1 issue," said Lois Wales, president of the MGEU. It represents 1,300 correctional officers who work in the province's seven adult jails.

A survey done by the MGEU last month found 82 per cent of the province's guards say overcrowding of prisoners is the main problem they face in the workplace.

Eighty-five per cent said the problem has got a lot worse in the last three years.

The statistics back them up. Since 2008-09, there are nearly 600 more prisoners behind bars in provincial jails. Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, the average population nearly doubled to from 1,184 inmates to 2,214 inmates.

Manitoba's seven adult provincial jails combined have room for 1,492 people. It means every nook, cranny and broom closet is looked at as potential living space for prisoners.

At the Brandon Correctional Centre -- where 341 inmates are living in space designed to hold 248 -- there are 50 people bunking down in the gymnasium. Double- and triple-bunking is the norm rather than the exception.

"The dormitory style makes everything worse," said Wales. "At some point, with the overcrowding, (the guards) think there will be a riot." Wales said overcrowding makes everything harder -- from separating and segregating rival gang members to offering rehabilitation programs to help ensure when prisoners are released they are less likely to reoffend.

Nearly nine in 10 prison guards said the overcrowding problem has made it difficult to provide programs to inmates.

"They're not able to perform any kind of rehabilitation," said Wales. "It's just warehousing inmates."

Wales wants the corrections-capacity review committee to understand bringing down the population -- or at least slowing the growth -- means far more emphasis on treatment programs that reduce the number of inmates who reoffend. That includes vocational training and literacy so prisoners "at least get a step at looking at something they can do when they get out."

Since 2004, the province has added 308 new beds to its jails. Another 358 will come online this year, with 193 at the new women's jail, another 160 at Milner Ridge and 40 more at The Pas Correctional Centre.

Wales said much more is needed, but fears it will take a long time to happen.

Justice Minister Andrew Swan acknowledges it takes a long time to build a new correctional facility. He said it's usually cheaper and easier to expand existing facilities, which is what the province has done to date, except for the new Women's Correctional Centre in Headingley, replacing the aging facility in Portage la Prairie.

Public consultations for the new women's jail began in 2004. The jail itself was announced in 2006 and construction began in 2009. It is opening this month, more than seven years after the process began.

Wales said in the time it takes to build another new facility, the inmate population could double again. Much of the existing increase is attributed to tougher laws, including eliminating conditional sentences for certain offences and adding more mandatory minimums. Within weeks, another bill will pass with even more mandatory minimums. The federal government has not said what the impact will be; however, more than two in three Manitoba correctional officers believe the bill will make overcrowding worse.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Average daily bed counts in Manitoba adult jails (maximum capacity):

2004-051,166 (1,184)

2005-061,346 (1,184)

2006-071,493 (1,208)

2007-081,554 (1,248)

2008-091,630 (1,248)

2009-101,869 (1,408)

2010-112,019 (1,492)

2011-122,214* (1,492)*

-- * as of October 2011

Adult corrections spending in Manitoba:

2004-05$77.2 million

2005-06$85 million

2006-07$90.5 million

2007-08$99 million

2008-09$132.7 million

2010-11$141.4 million

-- In at least the last two years, the department's annual report noted costs were driven upward because the high adult-custody population resulted in lots of overtime and a need to hire more staff

-- source: Government of Manitoba

Manitoba's seven provincial jails:

Brandon Correctional Centre

Dauphin Correctional Centre

Headingley Correctional Centre (pictured)

Milner Ridge Correctional Centre

Portage Correctional Centre (will become the Women's Correctional Centre)

The Pas Correctional Centre

Winnipeg Remand Centre

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 7, 2012 A3