Harper gov’t prison cutbacks expose B.C. guards to rising inmate anger BY SAM COOPER, THE PROVINCE OCTOBER 2, 2013 Federal prison guards in B.C. face rising threats of riots and attacks from inmates who are angered over prison-job wage cuts and diminishing benefits, sources say. This week, wage cuts took effect in federal penitentiaries across the country, causing protests and job strikes in some eastern jails. Inmates are angered that their daily job stipends — which average about $5 — are being docked about 30 per cent to pay more for room and board. The move is part of a federal deficit reduction plan which fits well with the Harper government’s tough-on-crime agenda. Protesting inmates say with recent trends in cost-cutting they can no longer afford to send money to their families, call loved ones, or buy soap and shampoo for themselves in jail, let alone save enough money for their eventual releases. Although no wage-cut protests have yet been reported in B.C.’s nine institutions, guards can see the anger boiling and hear the complaints from inmates, a source told The Province. “There could be riots, if you look at Kent (Maximum Security Institution) or some of the more radical prisons back east,” a source familiar with federal institutions in B.C. told The Province. “The inmates are saying you’ve reduced our jobs, you’re reducing our pay, you’re double-bunking us and making us pay more for room and board. You’ve been reducing our visits with our families. How much more can we take?” Gord Robertson, B.C.’s president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, says the wage cut anger is “compounding” danger in an already volatile situation. With this fall’s cost-cutting closures of Leclerc Institution in Laval, and the notorious Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario, increasing numbers of violent inmates are migrating into crowded B.C. jails. “We are getting a big influx of inmates coming in, so it is always tough to assess which gangs they may be affiliated with, who the players are, and how they will mix with the gang inmates from B.C.,” Robertson said. “So all the (federal institutions in B.C.) are dangerous right now, with the closures and cutbacks.” Robertson added that an increasing need to double-bunk inmates is raising incidents of violence between cellmates, with a murder reported last week in an Alberta penitentiary. Critics of the Conservative government’s prison cost-cutting say the move is undermining the rehabilitation benefits of prison work programs. “I always say, if you want to poke a bear in the eye for 25 years, you won’t have a really good result when they finally get out,” a source who works in a Fraser Valley federal institution said. In a memo on the wage cuts obtained by The Province, Mountain Institution warden Terry Hackett states: “I recognize that there are many impacts from these changes ... (management) need to remain committed to working together with offenders.” A spokesperson for Correctional Service of Canada did not directly answer questions about prison conditions in B.C. penitentiaries. The spokesperson said peaceful protests in connection to prison wage cuts will be tolerated. Here’s a look at specific cuts in prison wages and living conditions: On Oct. 1 federal prison inmates took a 30-per cent pay cut for prison jobs, to be used to cover costs for room and board, and telephone usage. Under the old pay-scale which was established in 1981, the top pay an inmate could earn per day was $6.90. Inmates originally used wages to buy extras like canteen sweets, but are now expected to work in order to buy soap, shampoo, deodorant, stationery and stamps. In addition to government cost-cutting in inmate wages, living conditions are disintegrating. Over the past year prisoners are increasingly being double-bunked in overcrowded federal prisons in B.C., guards say. Inmates who are double-bunked must still cover the same cost for room and board as those who are not, under the new wage cuts. And in another cost reduction, “incentive pay” will be cut in programs for prisoners who work in “CORCAN” facilities producing furniture and other goods for government departments. As well, Fraser Valley inmates are complaining that even small perks like “Food Night” — in which prisoners can spend their job money to order out for burgers or pizza — have been cut. The prison cost reductions — expected to save about $4-million annually — were first announced in May 2012 by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. © Copyright (c) The Province
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 22:18:32 +0000
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