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MGEU president highlights overcrowding crisis in Manitoba jails

A recent presentation by MGEU President Lois Wales, to the Adult Corrections Capacity Review Committee on behalf of Manitoba's correctional officers, underlined the overcrowding issues in provincial jails.

Ottawa (13 Feb. 2012) - “Manitoba will have more people coming into the institutions and we don’t know where they’re going to be housed or what kinds of programs will be available to try to rehabilitate them,” said Lois Wales, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU/NUPGE). 

Wales made her remarks during a presentation to the Adult Corrections Capacity Review Committee on February 8, 2012.

“I want to make this clear in the simplest way I can: this is more than a problem – this is already a crisis and it’s only getting worse.”

As of February 6, 2012, Manitoba’s seven corrections facilities were over their maximum rated capacity by more than 900 inmates. Constant increases in inmate counts are the new normal at Manitoba jails, and that has Corrections staff very concerned. The unmanageable numbers, Wales said, are creating “an abnormal working environment, a hyper vigilant working environment, and certainly an unsafe working environment.”

If inmate counts increase over the next three years increase the way they have over the last three years, we’ll have 2,964 people in Manitoba jails, she said. If inmate counts increase over the next seven years the way they have over the last seven years, we’ll have 3,964 people in Manitoba jails. In the next 10 years, at this rate, we’ll have close to 5,000 inmates in provincial jails.

As was pointed out by several presenters last night, the new federal tough-on-crime legislation, that requires more mandatory minimum sentences and reduces the discretion of judges in sentencing offenders, could make the situation even worse.

“These are figures that only take into account the trends over the recent past. What Bill C-10 could mean by placing even more people in jail underlines how serious the situation is,” said Wales.

“Whether you’re a proponent for Bill C-10 or not, the reality is this new legislation will make the overcrowding problem worse. Exactly how bad it will get is hard to gauge. We simply don’t know enough about it to know what effects it will have, but what’s perhaps more alarming to all Manitobans is that our provincial government doesn’t know how bad the situation could get.”

In addition to officer safety concerns, Wales underlined several other factors that are of major concern to correctional officers in the context of overcrowding, including:

  • the increasing difficulty in separating and segregating members from more than 50 street gangs in Manitoba jails;
  • the difficulty in dealing with mental health issues among the inmate population;
  • the inability of correctional officers to assist in providing programs like literacy and addictions treatment; and
  • the inability to perform case management functions.

MGEU’s elected correctional officers will also be making a presentation to the Adult Corrections Capacity Review Committee in a private session on February 14, 2012. Once the committee (comprised of Dennis Bracken, Lucille Bruce, and Richard Bruce) has heard from the public and key stakeholders in the justice system, they will be prepare and submit a written report this spring to the Minister of Justice, setting out options and recommendations.

Members of the general public who choose to provide written submissions to the Capacity Review Committee can do so at the following e-mail address correctionscapacity@gov.mb.ca

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE