By Taylor MacPherson

Penitentiary changed food procedures after riot

Aug 4, 2017 | 12:00 PM

Changes to food service have been put in place at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in the wake of a deadly riot last December.

Tensions within the Prince Albert prison were high for some time before the riot because inmates were unsatisfied with their meals, according to an official with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. The situation boiled over when the inmates in the prison’s medium-security unit were released from their cells to begin work Dec. 14. Negotiators were called in when the inmates refused to go to work, the union said, but there was no communication from the prisoners who barricaded the unit and set about destroying everything inside.

By the time the prison’s emergency response team regained control of the unit, one inmate was dead and eight others were injured. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) said six prisoners were injured by gunfire from the correctional officers, and inside the unit staff discovered three inmates who had been assaulted during the riot. All three were sent to hospital, but 43-year-old inmate Jason Leonard Bird succumbed to his injuries and died.

CSC would not confirm issues with the prison’s food led to the uprising, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on the cause of the riot before their investigation has concluded. They did, however, confirm that inmates are now more closely involved in quality oversight.

“Since December, 2016, Saskatchewan Penitentiary has hired additional inmates to work in the kitchen as food quality advisors,” CSC Spokesperson Kelly Dae Dash said in a statement to paNOW. “As well, there are now additional servings of food prepared during each meal to account for spillage.”

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“All meals meet Canada’s Food Guide nutrition standards and serving sizes,” she said.

The prison’s medium-security wing was badly damaged in the riot, Dash said, and repairs are still ongoing. She said the most recent estimate placed the restoration and repair cost at $3.6 million. Due to the damage, numerous inmates had to be transferred to other institutions. Dash said the penitentiary’s inmate population was 813 in December, and today the facility is home to 730.

The internal and criminal investigations into the riot have not yet concluded, Dash said. CSC’s full report on the circumstances of the riot and any resulting policy changes will be available, she said, after their internal investigation is complete.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews