Rehabilitation rate falls short, audit finds

Inmates in federal custody are often poorly equipped to reintegrate into society after completing their sentences due to sub-par conditions in Canadian jails, the country’s prison watchdog said.

Ivan Zinger, Canada’s correctional investigator, released his annual report on the state of federal prisons Tuesday.

He said Canadians are getting a poor return on the roughly $115,000 invested in each federal prisoner each year, due to conditions of confinement that “serve no underlying correctional, rehabilitative or public safety purpose.”

“What we’re trying to do during the administration of the sentence is to release people better off than they were initially, so that we minimize and mitigate the risk of reoffending,” he said.

“If the conditions of confinement aren’t conducive to rehabilitation and safe reintegration, then the $115,000 we spend per inmate is not a great outcome.”

Zinger’s report highlighted a numberofissuesinEdmonton-area prisons, including windowless, poorly ventilated segregation cells, a shortage of meaningful work options and kennel-style exercise pens at Edmonton Institution, which have since been removed.

At the Edmonton Institution for Women, prisoners who have behavioural issues are mixed with women who have mental health issues in secure housing pods, and often witness their cellmates having episodes, being shackled or pepper sprayed.

“All of that is not an appropriate way to manage these women,” he said, adding the great majority of female maximum security inmates are Indigenous.

Meanwhile, women in the prison no longer have access to meaningful work since the institution’s graphic design shop closed, he said. Now, the women sew pre-cut pillow cases.

“The women only had to sew a few straight lines,” he said. “They’re just bored, and they’re so eager to learn and do something more interesting with their time.”

WORKPLACE HARASSMENT INVESTIGATION

Meanwhile, two investigations are underway into allegations of workplace harassment and other misconduct involving corrections staff at the federal maximum security Edmonton Institution.

The Correctional Service of Canada said the probes include a criminal investigation by Edmonton police and a review of its own.

Commissioner Don Head said staff at the prison have complained of intimidation, bullying and harassment. Details of the allegations and the police investigation weren’t released.

The investigations follow the firing of three employees over sexually explicit phone calls made last year and an independent workplace review of the prison this year.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told the House of Commons on Tuesday he has asked Head to ensure that problems at the prison are contained.

The correctional service said Head recently met with staff at Edmonton Institution to encourage anyone with concerns to speak out.

“A number of employees have since come forward with firsthand experiences and allegations of staff misconduct,” the service said in a statement.

The Edmonton Institution, which sits on the northeastern edge of the city, can house up to 324 inmates.