Time to close, replace outdated prison, inmates’ advocate says

John Howard Society says facility in P.A. well past ‘best-before date’

A prominent prisoners’ rights group says the federal government should consider replacing the 106-year-old Saskatchewan Penitentiary in the wake of a damning report from Canada’s prison watchdog.

Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger described the sprawling facility west of Prince Albert as “forbidding and antiquated” in his annual report. On Tuesday, the head of the John Howard Society’s Saskatchewan branch called it “old and outdated.”

“It’s well past its best-before date,” said the organization’s chief executive, Greg Fleet, adding that he toured the prison in January — about a month after inmate Jason Leonard Bird died and multiple others were injured in a six-hour riot.

“There obviously needs to be a commitment from the federal government … to have an effective, just and humane correctional system that treats prisoners with the respect and dignity that they deserve,” Fleet said.

He noted there is precedent for such a move, noting the federal government decided in 2013 to close the 178-year-old Kingston Penitentiary and replace it by spending $23 million to expand the maximum security unit at the nearby Collins Bay Institution two years later.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) declined an interview request and did not immediately respond to specific written questions. In a prepared statement, CSC Commissioner Don Head said Zinger’s report identified “issues of mutual concern” for the department.

“Though our approaches may differ in some areas, given that we must also manage the operational, financial and staffing realities that come with making any changes, we believe we are making progress towards our shared goals and desired outcomes.”

The Saskatchewan Penitentiary riot, which began on Dec. 14, 2016, was likely the result of unresolved demands related to food quality and quantity, and the treatment of inmate kitchen workers, exploding into “incomprehensible violence,” Zinger said in his report.

Fleet said while it’s clear CSC has to do “a lot of work” to solve those and other issues, the slow speed with which the federal government enacts change makes the situation frustrating.

“These issues that led up to the riot didn’t happen overnight … It was over a period of time that led up to a boiling point, so we need to have changes made quickly that address the issues that led to the riot (and) provide long-term solutions,” he said.

Zinger made 17 recommendations in the report, including that the “lessons learned” from the ongoing investigation into the riot be released as a public document.

The federal department has pledged that it will do so next month.

The prison watchdog also recommended that an external audit of CSC food services be conducted “on a priority basis” and that inmate concerns be addressed immediately. CSC said it is conducting an internal review and will consider the recommendation.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a statement this week that the federal government remains committed to ensuring the country’s prison system is “fair, humane and effective.”

Ottawa has committed $123 million over the next five years, plus ongoing funding, to solve issues in prisons, around half of which — $58 million — is earmarked for expanded mental health care for inmates.

The union representing 7,000 correctional officers, including more than 300 at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, contends that while there are concerns about aging infrastructure, those issues are out of its control and its members dealt with the riot appropriately.

“There’s no magical solution,” Union of Canadian Correctional Officers national president Jason Godin said, noting that managing inmate populations is correctional officers’ toughest job, and factors such as gang activity mean not every incident is preventable.

“There’s reports and then there’s reality,” Godin said, hinting that new legislation aimed at limiting solitary confinement could lead to more violent incidents.

“We work the reality. We’re the guys that are on the floor 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”