Pizza night has to go: Toews
Minister angry that inmates paid for own takeout food
OTTAWA — Federal inmates appear to be enjoying pizza parties and barbecue socials from behind bars, something Public Safety Minister Vic Toews finds appalling and says he is determined to end.
Defenders of the practice, however, maintain it doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime and is an important part of inmate rehabilitation, reintegration and family bonding.
Documents obtained by Postmedia News show maximum-security inmates at Saskatchewan Penitentiary purchased $446 worth of pizza from a Prince Albert pie shop on April 4, and another $320 in pizza from the same shop on April 20.
Several other receipts suggest inmates ordered some $643 worth of KFC on April 4 and nearly $1,200 worth of KFC on April 20.
Some 13 chocolate bunnies costing $27 were also purchased from a Superstore on April 3.
Meanwhile, a grocery store receipt dated April 14 for $210 worth of food items was reported as having been picked up for a “BBQ social.”
“I was disappointed to learn that prisoners are able to order-in hundreds of dollars of takeout food. Our government has taken strong and consistent steps to ensure the correctional system actually corrects criminal behaviour,” Toews wrote Thursday in a letter to corrections commissioner Don Head, obtained by Postmedia News. “That correction should not be overly harsh, but it should not coddle some of the worst criminals our society has seen.”
Noting most Canadians would likely find these “unacceptable prison perks,” Toews argued “pizza parties and barbecue socials need to cease.”
He asked Head to begin a review with “a view to ending the ability of prisoners to order food from outside restaurants” and is hoping for answers by mid-October.
Head was not available for an interview, but a spokeswoman for the Correctional Service of Canada said inmates are, on occasion, allowed to buy food items with money from their own personal accounts, individually or as part of a larger pool.
It’s usually part of family visits, other visits or so-called food drives that sometimes have a charitable component, Sara Parkes said.
Such requests are typically submitted by the Inmate Welfare Committee, vetted by prison staff and ultimately approved by wardens.