A small but very vocal group of protestors gathered outside Pine Grove Correctional Centre Tuesday, calling for provincial government Minister of Corrections Christine Tell’s resignation, and also describing for the media what they referred to as inhumane conditions within the province’s jails.
Cory Cardinal was recently released from Saskatoon Correctional Centre and made a promise to be there for the protest.
“I wanted to keep my word not only to these girls and to the people I told I would do this, but also for myself,” he said.
Citing his own personal experience, Cardinal said issues and anxiety related to overcrowding have been exacerbated by the pandemic. He explained it’s important the public realizes inmates have rights too.
Correctional facilities in Saskatchewan will receive $76 million to support safety and programming improvements, according to Tuesday’s provincial budget details.
Those improvements include the construction of cultural lodges at correctional facilities in Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert, and the renovation of Saskatoon’s Urban Camp. Approximately $52 million of this funding will go towards building a new remand center at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.
“These upgrades will significantly expand our ability to provide programming to inmates and maintain safe and secure facilities for inmates, staff, and the public,” Minister Christine Tell said in a statement.
The specific details of the plans have not yet been rolled out, and attempts by
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Maier said some women at Pine Grove have also started a hunger strike in solidarity with Cardinal.
She said with only one prison for women, some of these inmates have to travel long distances to get home and some don t have anyone to help them. There is no way for them to get home and Cardinal doesn t want to see another incident like [Squirrel s death] happen, she said. Some girls will get out on a Saturday or Sunday and they ll ask to get out on Friday because there is nothing open on a Saturday or Sunday to get a bank account or try and get social assistance or anything like that, she said.
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A group of distraught inmates looked at me, their faces full of confusion. What do we do now?
One of the nursing staff just announced to the room that someone on our unit at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre had COVID-19. This revelation further added to the tension, stress and fear on an already overcrowded unit.
I was admitted to the Saskatoon Correctional Centre mid-August. I first went through the overcrowded quarantine unit, where I slept for 14 days in a cell with another depressed inmate on a makeshift bed on the floor. There are six dorms large rooms filled with bunk beds about five feet apart. Thirty of us share three toilets and two sinks. The responsibility of cleaning fell on us, but the cleaning products were given out at the discretion of the guards.