Besnard Lake inmates ‘crammed’ into Pine Grove’s gym

“The decision was taken to delay reopening to allow for officials to study Besnard and the programming as a part of a wider strategy of revitalizing our custody facilities across the province, Mr. Speaker,” she said.

This led opposition NDP whip and Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette to tell the legislature that the inmates are “crammed” in the gym at Pine Grove.

“This is not helpful to prepare them for release and it is a safety issue and could be a matter of life and death,” he said, and then asked Tell how she could then justify delaying the reopening of Besnard Lake.

To that, Tell said the province is able to manage “the significant counts” with its current infrastructure and offenders from Besnard are being housed “appropriately and effectively.”

When asked to admit keeping Besnard Lake closed and to reverse the decision on Thursday, Tell said “no.” Her answer elicited a round of applause in the legislature.

A day earlier, the delayed reopening of the Besnard Lake facility as well as the revelation the Prince Albert Correctional Centre’s expansion won’t be operational until this fall led Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) president Bob Bymoen to express his concern about overcrowding the correctional system. The statement was issued on April 1.

“We have a situation now where many of the centres are running at full capacity or are dealing with overcrowding,” he said in the statement.

“Crowded conditions lead to increased tensions and more violence,” he continued in the statement. “This is a safety issue for workers and inmates.”

The ministry, at the beginning of the year, admitted to paNOW that overcrowding is a problem at the Prince Albert Correctional Centre, and the expansion would open this spring – April or May.

The SGEU recently found out about the delayed reopening of Besnard Lake, which it said could accommodate up to 35 inmates, and about the pushed back opening of the Prince Albert Correctional Centre’s new unit.

According to the SGEU, it found out after the provincial budget was announced that the new unit would be delayed until October, and only 50 per cent of the unit’s capacity would be used.

The unit is supposed to add 144 beds, or 72 new cells, to the Prince Albert Correctional Centre’s capacity.

It would bring capacity up to 312 beds. As of Jan. 7, the jail was housing 314 inmates.

The province, at that time, admitted that inmates were being housed in a classroom as well as in the facility’s gymnasium.

In his statement, Bymoen said the SGEU has been raising concerns about the increased risk of violence and overcrowding for years. He urged the government to immediately reopen Besnard Lake and “expedite” the use of the added space at the new unit at the Prince Albert Correctional Centre.

“It is a safety issue and, it could very well be an issue of life and death.”

In the coming days paNOW will have updates as well as further response from all sides.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames

by Thia James

Besnard Lake inmates ‘crammed’ into Pine Grove’s gym

What's Trending