TEMPORARY DETENTION SOARED IN PAST DECADE, STATCAN
reports

WINNIPEG - Canada's provincial prison population has shifted
dramatically over the past decade, according to figures released
yesterday by Statistics Canada, with fewer people sentenced to jail
time and more in temporary custody.

For the first time, in 2004-05, the number of adults held on remand
or other temporary detention and the number of sentenced offenders
were virtually equal.

On an average day, about 9,800 adults were being held in sentenced
custody in provincial or territorial jails, and slightly more --
9,900 -- were being held while awaiting trial, sentencing or another
form of temporary detention.

It was a far different picture 10 years earlier, when the number of
adults on remand accounted for only 28% of the total number behind
bars. But since 1995-96, remand counts have risen 83%, Statistics
Canada said in its report.

The trend is discouraging, says Graham Stewart, executive director of
the John Howard Society of Canada, a research and advocacy
organization focused on the justice system.

"I would like to see a serious national review of the use of remand
in Canada, to get a handle on it," he said in an interview.

He said people are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven
guilty and should only be held if certain criteria are met, such as
when the person poses a risk to public safety.

Mr. Stewart thinks the criteria have changed over the years and
remand is being used inappropriately.

While the population in remand custody grows, the number of sentenced
offenders in provincial or territorial jails has been going down. The
average number of sentenced offenders in 2004-05 was 31% below the
level a decade earlier.

Statistics Canada attributes the shift to several factors. For one,
changes in bail practices and policies could affect the probability
of bail being denied, which in turn increases the remand population.

"Cases in Canada's adult criminal courts have also become more
complex and are taking more time to resolve, increasing the length of
stay for adults in remand while they await trial and/or sentencing,"
the report stated.

Not only are more people being held in remand, they are being held longer.

The conditional sentencing option has also been a factor in the
shifting prison population, the report said.

Some offenders who would have otherwise been admitted to serve their
sentence in jail instead served a conditional sentence in the community.

Federal Justice Minister Vic Toews and Public Safety Minister
Stockwell Day have said Ottawa plans to introduce legislation that,
if passed, will put more people behind bars and keep them there longer.

Mr. Stewart says prisons are already in poor condition and
overcrowded and the courts already backlogged.

On any given day in 2004-05 there were 152,600 adults under the
supervision of either federal, provincial or territorial correctional
service agencies -- a 1% drop from the previous year.

Anyone sentenced to two years or longer serves their time in a federal prison.