'PRISON SYSTEM NEEDS TO EXPAND'

Don't count on a larger Fraser Regional Correctional Centre within
the next year, it's just not in the budget, according to Solicitor
General John Les.

"I don't have any money in my budget, as we speak, for expansion,"
Les said Monday.

"My first inclination is, let's try and manage that pretrial
population better so we can get the numbers down.

"There's actually an incentive there to spend as much time as
possible in remand."

When someone is sentenced, that time can be credited as double
towards the actual sentence.

Les visited Maple Ridge council Monday to give an update.

But it's possible Fraser Regional could grow in the future as a way
of relieving the population pressures in the branch. Les said the
ministry is talking about expansion somewhere in the system because
of the high number of inmates who have to share cells.

Currently, 468 inmates are doing time in the institution that was
built with a capacity for 300. In 2000-01, Fraser Regional's
population stood at 293.

About 75 per cent of those inmates, as in the rest of the B.C.
Corrections Branch, are double bunked.

That's an increase from a province-wide double bunking rate of 36 per
cent in the late 1990s, according to Bruce Bannerman, spokesman with
the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

Les told council the education ministry is developing crystal meth
awareness materials which will be introduced into the curriculum as
part of the career and personal planning course.

But Coun. Judy Dueck told Les she disagreed with focusing solely on
crystal meth, saying other drugs can't be ignored.

"There is no other drug like crystal meth," Les replied.

One dose of the drug can be fatal.

The ministry's also in the process of implementing its civil
forfeiture program, in which the government will go to civil court to
seize property from people involved in criminal activity.

The onus is thus on people to prove their property was legally obtained.

Maple Ridge Mission MLA Randy Hawes, also at the meeting, wanted the
provincial government to work with the Canada Revenue Agency to focus
on those involved with crime.

"I think we need to be bringing these people down in a very visible
way," Hawes said.

"It worked with Capone," added Mayor Gordy Robson.

A community court pilot program has been launched. In it, if a drug
addict pleads guilty, various ministries step in to provide help to
break the crime cycle.

Les added that the government is working on increasing resources and
the number of treatment beds for crystal meth addicts.

"We think we've made some progress," he said.

Robson said he was happy with Les's commitment to honouring previous
commitments to the community from Fraser Regional to minimize impact,
such as maintaining an auto dialer to notify nearby residents if
there's an escape.

Robson also said the solicitor general said an alternative method of
returning released inmates to the places where they were convicted
will be found, instead of dropping them off at Haney bus loop.

Robson said 15 per cent of the people on Maple Ridge streets are
former inmates from Fraser Regional.

"What you have said today relieves all the concerns I have had and
we look forward to your expansion plans."

However, RCMP said last year there are no numbers that show released
prisoners are causing crime, nor are there any complaints about former inmates.

Prison population down

Despite all the double bunking, B.C.'s provincial prison population
is smaller now than it was five years ago.

The current average prison population in the B.C. Corrections Branch is 2,412.

That's below the average count of 2,485 in 2000-2001, although that
was the year several illegal Chinese migrants were being held in
provincial jails on immigration matters, said spokesman Bruce Bannerman.

While the prison population has remained relatively stable, the
government has been jamming inmates into fewer facilities, increasing
the number of inmates who have to share cells.

Ten provincial jails have closed in B.C. since 2002. That has raised
the rate of double bunking to 75 per cent across the province.

One part of the prison population that has been growing is the number
of inmates on remand, awaiting trial or in the middle of court proceedings.

Delays in court scheduling can increase the time an inmate spends
behind bars awaiting trial.

Bannerman said trials are taking longer as well, increasing the
amount of remand time.

But Solicitor General John Les says the system is managing despite
the overcrowding, adding he's not aware of any behaviour or security
issues as a result of double bunking.

Alouette Correctional Centre for Women also added 32 more beds
earlier this year.