The people who supervise inmates at Canada’s overcrowded federal
prisons say bulging populations mean less opportunity for
rehabilitation, and they fear a more dangerous breed of convict will be
released back on the streets.
Hundreds of officers of the
Correctional Service of Canada are expected to rally Saturday outside
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s constituency office in Calgary to
protest what they say are increasingly dangerous conditions inside
penitentiaries.
Climbing incarceration rates and a toxic mix of convicts, many of
them with gang ties, have made life behind bars more difficult for
prisoners and the people who work with them, says Pierre Mallette, the
national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
Mr.
Mallette has been on a cross-country tour of federal institutions to
learn first hand about the challenges facing his members and says the
problems associated with overcrowding top of the list.
Although
the national crime rate has been dropping since 1992 and is now at
levels not seen since 1972, policies of the federal Conservative
government have put more people behind bars.
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