Crowding at Sask. women's jail has reached crisis levels, says advocate

One advocate says crowding at a Prince Albert, Sask., jail for women has reached crisis levels.

As of Friday, there were 227 female inmates inside Pine Grove Correctional Centre, government officials confirmed. The facility is designed to hold a maximum of 166 inmates. More than 90 per cent of them are Indigenous.

It was even worse earlier this month, when numbers reached 275. Spaces once used as a chapel, gymnasium or visitor area are now filled with beds, officials said. Some cells designed for two people have had three, a practice known as "triple bunking."

"It's a really stressful situation for the women and staff when you have people on top of each other like this," said Nicole Obrigavitch, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan.

The government officials confirmed the majority of women incarcerated at Pine Grove are there on remand as they await their day in court.

"I think a lot of people don't even understand what remand is. You are being held pre-conviction, so the women that are on remand haven't even been convicted of a crime. They are just either waiting for a court date or waiting for bail or waiting for trial," Obrigavitch said.

She said corrections officials are "doing the best they can." She said they don't make the decisions on sentencing, and they don't have control over the social conditions that cause women to be sent to Pine Grove.

That's why a total government approach is necessary, she said. She's been meeting with and writing to ministers to increase supports for vulnerable women. 

"I think that they're probably really sick of me at this point. But I think that we, like, we have a crisis — we have a housing crisis; we have a drug crisis; and this is just a symptom of that crisis," Obrigavitch said.

She said adding supports is not just the right thing to do, but it would also save taxpayers a lot of money. She said the cost of social programs and housing are far less than the cost of incarceration and of foster care for any children.

Scott Harron, assistant deputy minister of custody services, agreed this is more than just a corrections issue.

"It takes a village, you know. People are coming to us. They have very complex challenges. They've all had a different type of life. And it takes not just government, but all of our community partners, all of our Indigenous partners to come together," Harron said.

Harron said annual inmate counts typically peak in July, and he's hoping to see a decrease in the coming weeks.

"There's always challenges when it comes to working above operational capacity, but I'd say our staff go above and beyond in order to make it work well," he said.

He noted a new cultural centre opened at Pine Grove in 2020, and one partnership helps women learn about positive relationships and parenting skills using traditional Indigenous teachings. There's also a children's visiting program, he said.