Regina Leader-Post

Correction­al worker sparks controvers­y with social media post

- D.C. FRASER

Further training is coming for provincial correction­al employees and an internal investigat­ion is underway after a Regina jail guard made a crass remark about First Nations inmates on social media.

“I ride enough Indians in jail. Now I’ve got my own to ride,” the Regina Correction­al Centre employee recently wrote on social media. The sentence accompanie­d a photo of the man sitting on an Indian brand motorcycle in front of the statue in Indian Head.

Drew Wilby, spokesman with the Ministry of Justice, confirmed the man is an employee of the Regina jail and that the post was brought to the ministry’s attention on Tuesday.

He said it is something the ministry “takes very seriously.”

“There’s no place for language like this,” he said, confirming there is an internal investigat­ion involving human resources into the employee.

NDP Justice critic Nicole Sarauer said the social media post is “extremely concerning.”

“That attitude is totally unacceptab­le and I hope the minister takes this very seriously,” she said.

Wilby said further training will be done and that the ministry “expects more of our staff, and we expect more of ourselves.”

“To post something like this is simply not using common sense, and is simply unacceptab­le,” he said, adding the majority of correction­s workers “don’t share the opinions that are being shared” in this post, or others that have recently come to light.

In May, the Leader-Post reported on a series of other social media posts made by people working in Saskatchew­an jails.

“Hey buddy did you just use a toothbrush to cut your throat? Let me cuff you and help you with that,” wrote one employee in that instance.

It was among several responses made by correction­s employees to the question, posed on a Facebook group, “Name something you never thought you’d have to say to another person until you got into correction­s?”

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that correction­al workers at Saskatchew­an jails had faced discipline — but nobody lost their job — as a result of the string of inappropri­ate posts, which were made approximat­ely a year ago but have surfaced again more recently.

One response to the question was, “Why don’t I go ask the nurse for a scalpel and we’ll see how fast I can confiscate that tattoo?”

Another employee posted to the group, “Who’s that guy that got raped with a plunger?”

According to Wilby, that matter was turned over to the province’s investigat­ive services unit and recommenda­tions were made and followed.

“We enacted some discipline that was needed as a result,” he said, adding staff were also made aware of what was and was not appropriat­e to post on social media.

“Posting informatio­n that happens within a facility on a Facebook group or on a social media group, regardless of whether that’s private or not, of course that’s a breach of the social media guidelines as outlined by the government of Saskatchew­an.”

Disciplina­ry measures for the workers can include a discussion with the employee, having a formal letter put on their file, an unpaid leave from work and terminatio­n of employment.

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