Changes Needed In Saskatchewan: Report
A recent escape has prompted the Saskatchewan government to make promises regarding correctional resources in the Province. The following is from a press release from the local union responding to that report.
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU/NUPGE) welcomes a promise by the province to increase resources, staff training and security measures in the correctional system as a response to the high-profile inmate escape from the Regina Correctional Centre last August. “We have been asking for these changes for decades. Our front-line staff have identified issues such as inadequate training, sub-standard infrastructure and information systems as key problems for many years,” says SGEU president Bob Bymoen.
Bymoen noted that many of the same recommendations, such as enhanced training, were made in the 1993 Rankin report but were not acted upon. “While many of the recommendations in this report respond to what front-line workers have been asking for over the years” …
The increased beds announced for corrections in Saskatoon are long-overdue and welcome. “But it is worth noting that, while this will help alleviate pressures in the men’s system, it does not help solve the overcrowding problem in Pinegrove, the correctional centre for women in Prince Albert,” Bymoen notes. He adds that many of the problems with inmate management result from the fact that there is very little positive, rehabilitative programming left in the system. “Programs were cut in a short-sighted effort to save money over the last two decades. With little to fill their time inmates are more likely to engage in dangerous activities that have serious consequences for themselves and staff,” he says.