Changes to the Criminal Code of Canada will lead to higher infrastructure costs.
P.E.I. Justice and Public Safety Minister Doug Currie says the Truth in Sentencing Act limits the credit prisoners receive for time served, increases minimum sentences in some cases and removes the option of house arrest in other cases. He said he doesn’t know how much the changes will cost because no one knows exactly how they will affect the province’s jails.
“There’s an expectation that we’re (going to) see a rise and increase in bed days,” he said.
P.E.I. has an aging jail in Summerside and another in Miltonvale Park, which was recently upgraded with 48 new beds for inmates who serve their sentences on weekends. The addition was built to help alleviate some of the problems with overcrowding at the Provincial Correctional Centre, but Currie said problems with the Summerside jail also need to be addressed.
“It’s not just about the facility here in Charlottetown.”
Currie said it costs about $200 per day to house inmates, and although he didn’t have any numbers on how much the changes will cost, he did say more inmates would mean higher costs.
“The more bed days you use, there is a price tag to that.”
A spokesperson for the Justice and Public Safety Department said it had numbers for how much it might cost, but they were old and wouldn’t accurately reflect the changes.
The province has held preliminary discussions with Correctional Service Canada and will bring it up with the other provincial governments the next time they meet, he said.
“It will be on the agenda when we go to federal, provincial and territorial meetings in the fall.”
Currie said he didn’t have a chance to speak with anyone from the federal government about the changes before they came into effect because he has only been Justice and Public Safety minister since January.
“I haven’t had any discussions.”
As for whether he will ask the federal government for money to help pay for the changes, Currie said the federal government made the changes to the criminal code.
“The amendments have come from the federal government and we hope they see their responsibility.”
Currie said he is optimistic the federal government will see the potential hardships the changes will create.
“We’re certainly willing to look at a progressive partnership with the federal government.”
In a news release from the P.E.I. Union of Public Sector Employees, president Shelley Ward said the federal government didn’t consider how much the changes would cost before passing the legislation.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report estimating the changes will cost P.E.I. up to $65 million to build new prisons and as much as $41 million per year to operate them, she said.
“Ottawa has changed a law that will require more jails on P.E.I. and they have done so without assuming the costs. We fully support Minister Doug Currie in his call for the federal government to provide funding to help build and operate new prisons on Prince Edward Island.”
Unfortunately Curious Georgia, this is not an exaggeration, and thanks to this act, we should see a rise in crime because all of this funding that goes to housing people who commit crimes will be taken away from the programs meant to rehabilitate and deter...