CREDIT: WWW.SOCIALIST.CA

Tragedy struck the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in early November, when a man was found dead after being beaten by fellow inmates. Randy Drysdale, 46, was murdered in the EMDC in 2011 amid complaints that the facility failed to monitor him properly. Two years later, nothing has changed except the name.

Sarnia resident Adam Kargus, 29, was arrested on the charge of using a false identity and sentenced to serve time in the EMDC. He was found beaten to death in the showers on November 1, 2013. Official statements on the increase in prison violence in Canada cite overcrowding and under-staffing, but some penitentiary staff blame the Conservative Government.

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers staged a protest at the Conservative convention in Calgary on October 31, with displays illustrating the dangers of doublebunking inmates. Last year, the Office of the Correctional Investigator reported an influx of inmates equivalent to two large penitentiaries as a result of new Conservative crime bills. Correctional Services of Canada also reported a 33 per cent increase in prison assaults between 2010 and 2011.

In July 2012, the federal prison system had a record high inmate population of over 15,000 inmates, forcing penitentiaries to double-bunk cells. Unsurprisingly the increase was reflected in the cost of running the facilities. They ballooned from $1.6 billion per year, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office in 2006, to $2.9 billion by 2011. Now in 2013, the provinces are in the same boat.

Almost half of the 29 Ontario penitentiaries are holding more inmates than they were designed for. CBC News interviewed Queen's University professor Allan Manson in 2012, when he said that similar conditions potentially violated the United Nations Minimal Standards for Prisoners. The conditions are no secret in the London Courthouse where Ontario Court Justice Gregory Pockele has been accused by lawyers of shortening sentences due to conditions at the EMDC. Pockele expressed concern for the safety of inmates at the centre, which earned him a sharp response from the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Madeleine Meilleur. The subtext in her statement couldn't address the issue better when the London Free Press quoted her saying, “This is a reality for correctional facilities across the country.”

The Prime Minister continues to tout his tough-on-crime image while failing to address societal inequalities that contribute to increased incarceration rates, particularly in the ballooning prison population of the prairies. While he may be fulfilling his campaign promise of a life sentence meaning a sentence for life, Canadians have to decide whether they want a government that would rather punish criminals after the fact instead of preventing the crime. Given that the rate of recidivism in Canada is estimated to be 33 per cent by the Correctional Service of Canada, it seems like the best way to keep a convict from reoffending is for them to spend as little time in prison as possible.
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