FEWER PEOPLE SENTENCED TO JAIL; MORE HELD ON REMAND

Shift Reported By Statistics Canada Raises Alarm With Advocacy Group
Over Presumption Of Innocence

WINNIPEG -- Canada's provincial prison population has shifted
dramatically over the past decade, according to new numbers released
Wednesday 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 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 per cent of the total number
behind bars.

But since 1995-96, remand counts have risen 83 per cent, 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," Stewart said in an interview. He
said people are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty
and should only be held in custody if certain criteria are met, such
as when the person poses a risk to public safety.

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 per cent
below the level a decade earlier.

Statistics Canada attributes the shifting composition of the
provincial prison population to several factors.

For one, the agency says 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 as further explanation.

Not only are more people being held in remand, but they are being
held longer, which is a main reason behind the growing population of
adults in remanded detention.

The conditional sentencing option has also been a factor, Statistics
Canada said, contributing to fewer people in sentenced custody.

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