The Prince Albert Correctional Centre is set to receive an upgrade, according to this week's provincial budget. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Corrections

Provincial budget lacks supports for inmates, says critics

Apr 8, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Editor’s note: This story was amended Friday afternoon to include build details from the Sask. government.

Correctional facilities in Saskatchewan will receive $76 million to support safety and programming improvements, according to Tuesday’s provincial budget details.

Those improvements include the construction of cultural lodges at correctional facilities in Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert, and the renovation of Saskatoon’s Urban Camp. Approximately $52 million of this funding will go towards building a new remand center at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.

“These upgrades will significantly expand our ability to provide programming to inmates and maintain safe and secure facilities for inmates, staff, and the public,” Minister Christine Tell said in a statement.

The cultural lodge at the men’s jail in Prince Albert, is expected to cost approximately $230,000 to construct and the government anticipates breaking ground this summer.

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In the meantime, NDP Justice Critic Nicole Sauer expressed her frustration that the government is not taking steps to reduce the province’s high remand rate.

“Let’s be clear, folks on remand are individuals who haven’t yet been convicted of a crime. The focus should be on instead providing community supports for individuals so they don’t end up in these situations in the first place,” she said, citing examples of housing, mental health and addictions.

With respect to the announcement about the cultural lodges, Sauer said the news is long awaited, but added buildings are only as good as the programs they are housing.

“We want to see a commitment from the government to ensure that in conjunction with this announcement are real plans for some integrated cultural programming for all inmates remanded and sentenced across the province,” she said.

Sherri Maier, with the inmate advocacy group Beyond Prison Walls Canada, also agreed cultural lodges are a great tool for rehabilitation, but she too has reservations.

“So many [inmates] tell me that they can’t even access an Elder, so why renovate them if those who are incarcerated can’t even get access to them now,” she said.

With respect to the $52 million to fund the building of a new remand center, Maier flat out said Saskatchewan does not need a new remand Center.

“We warehouse enough people as it is in this province. That money should go towards programming people who are already incarcerated to help rehabilitate them and reduce recidivism rates,” she said.

Maier explained prisons and jails take a lot of people who are already broken and break them even more.

“Many of those who are incarcerated have had some sort of trauma in their life which is a contributing factor to why they are incarcerated. If Saskatchewan correctional facilities provided programming rather than investing in the building of another remand center, we would find less people returning to these institutions,” she said.

Maier explained Amsterdam is a country that Saskatchewan should really look at when it comes to incarceration, noting they are closing jails because they don’t have enough people to fill them.

“They have turned jails into five star hotels where former inmates now work. This is what correctional institutions should be, correcting ones behaviour, assisting with programming for a successful reintegration into the community to ensure that they do not return,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell