NDP, advocate call for province to release remanded inmates following COVID-19 jail outbreak

Experts say the province needs to lower the population in Saskatchewan jails by releasing some remanded inmates. 

This comes after an outbreak at Saskatoon Correctional Centre, which, as of 4 p.m. Friday, had 99 cases of COVID-19  — 80 of whom were inmates and 19 of whom were staff. 

The virus was also found in all of the province's other correctional facilities:

• Regina Correctional Centre – 2 staff, 1 offender

• Prince Albert Correctional Centre – 1 staff

• Pine Grove Correctional Centre – 1 offender

• Paul Dojack Youth Centre – 1 staff, 2 offenders

• Kilburn Hall Youth Centre – 1 staff

• Prince Albert Youth Residence – 1 staff

Nicole Sarauer, NDP critic for justice, corrections and policing, says that once COVID-19 gets into jails, it's very difficult to contain. 

"We are extremely worried about the safety of both staff and inmates that are currently in those locations right now," Sarauer said. 

"It's very scary. And it's very possible that we could see the numbers that we're seeing in Saskatoon in the other centres in our province. And it's really indicative of what we're seeing throughout the province, even outside our jails right now. Our numbers are getting way out of hand and little is being done to address the situation."

She says the government was doing a better job of addressing the risk of COVID in jails at the beginning of the pandemic by listening to the concerns of staff and addressing overcrowding in jails by releasing remanded inmates.

"Since the summer, we've seen the numbers in our jails go back up again and we're back to the levels of overcrowding that we had experienced before the pandemic, which creates a horribly ripe opportunity for the outbreak that we're seeing right now," she said. 

Sarauer says the province should be providing more support to community-based organizations whose jobs are to provide housing and electronic monitoring for people who are charged with a crime but not yet convicted. This, she says, will help reduce overcrowding in jails. 

Lessons for the future

Shawn Fraser, CEO for the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, also says the outbreak at Saskatoon Correctional Centre could have been avoided. 

"What's frustrating for me ... is that we've known that this was coming for a long time in correctional facilities and we actually have tools to deal with it. And we know those tools work because we used them in the spring and they worked," Fraser said. 

"I think if anybody acts surprised about the outbreak that occurred and further outbreaks we're very likely to hear another correctional institutions in Saskatchewan, they're not being sincere," he said.

Fraser says that just because the outbreak is within prison walls, doesn't mean it won't affect the rest of Saskatchewan's population. 

"When we hear about an outbreak of 60 [or more] people in one place, ultimately we're going to run into a crisis where we will run out of ICU beds," said Fraser. 

Fraser says he hopes the pandemic teaches the province that it does not need to crowd the prison system like it is now. 

"Saskatchewan utilizes remand at a rate twice the national average. And that's not because we have worse people in Saskatchewan or our criminals are more active or get caught more," he said. "That's because we have a mechanism in place that stuffs people into remand all the time. And we can change that."

Provincial precautions in place

In a statement the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety said it is working with public health authorities to ensure it is doing everything it can to reduce the likelihood of further spread of the virus within Saskatoon Correctional Centre. 

"This includes further reducing movement of inmates. All necessary movement will be done with the proper precautions," the statement said.

The ministry says it does not yet have a timeline for when temporary structures at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre will be ready, but says it is working on the infrastructure needed to have them operational as soon as possible. Temporary structures at the Regina Correctional Centre were operational.

The ministry is unable to provide the number of redirected inmates at this time.

Staff at Saskatoon Correctional Centre are aware that two individuals were threatening a hunger strike on Friday, according to the ministry.

"We continue to work to keep inmates informed about the developing situation at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre."

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