The NDP is calling on the Sask. Party government to act on the 2008 and 2018 recommendations contained in the Provincial Auditor’s recent report regarding the proper rehabilitation of adult inmates.
“We know that the province’s high rate of recidivism in corrections puts a huge strain on resources as well as correctional facilities and staff,” said NDP Justice Critic Nicole Sarauer. “Government has a responsibility to ensure inmates the opportunity to rehabilitate so that we don’t see the same people reoffending again and again. The Provincial Auditor’s report released last week shows yet again that the Sask. Party is quite simply not living up to its responsibilities.”
According to the report, in 25 percent of the files reviewed by the auditor, the Ministry did not provide inmates with rehabilitation before their release into the community.
The report also noted that the Ministry still has not implemented the Auditor’s 2008 recommendations to monitor inmates’ access to rehabilitation programming as well as the relationship between re-offending rates and access to rehabilitation. The Provincial Auditor also recommended that the government ensure the Ministry is complying with its own policies to assess inmates’ needs and determine what types of rehabilitation might be appropriate, but that too, had been ignored for the past decade.
The Provincial Auditor noted that nearly half of those in correctional facilities are on remand — not convicted and still presumed innocent. This number has doubled over the past two decades, with each person incarcerated on remand costing the province about $80,000 per year. Unaddressed capacity issues driven by a high volume of people on remand continues to play a large part in preventing inmates from being properly rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
“If an inmate doesn’t have proper access to mental health counselling or a rehabilitation program, then their chances to find work or effectively re-enter the community decrease,” Sarauer said. “The recommendations have been there from the Provincial Auditor for a decade, but the Sask. Party have sat on them. This inaction is costly. The Sask. Party needs to put a plan in place to deal with this issue, but also ensure that the plan is actually implemented.”
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.