JAILS BRACE FOR INFLUX OF INMATES

Harper Plan To Put Pressure On Crowded Facilities

MANITOBA'S provincial jails are already bursting at the seams with
criminals and a new federal government plan to enforce harsher
sentences is going to make the problem worse.

Provincial officials are closely monitoring federal plans to
eliminate conditional sentences -- in which offenders who would get
less than two years in jail are allowed to serve their sentences at
home rather than in prison -- knowing it will add more people to
already cramped quarters.

"We will await the bill to see the specifics," said Justice Minister
Gord Mackintosh. "There could well be an impact (on our jails.)"

And Mackintosh said if the jails need to be expanded, it will happen.

"We'll do whatever we have to do to protect the public interest," he said.

There are seven provincial jails in Manitoba, including five
correctional centres for male inmates, the Winnipeg Remand Centre and
the women's prison in Portage la Prairie. All but two (Dauphin and
Milner Ridge) are currently over capacity, with Headingley
Correctional Centre in the worst shape.

According to Manitoba Justice, the ideal capacity for the notorious
prison on the western outskirts of Winnipeg is 459. As of April 20,
there were actually 632 inmates behind its bars. In total, there is
capacity for 1,192 inmates in the seven provincial jails, and there
are currently 1,512 people locked up in them. Mackintosh says jail
overcrowding is a perennial problem and not just in Manitoba.

"This is a North American experience," he said.

He added the province was already working on a strategy to deal with
the issue before the federal government's recent justice announcements.

On a visit to Winnipeg Wednesday Prime Minister Stephen Harper
outlined his plans to introduce a bill in Parliament this spring
which would eliminate the use of conditional sentences completely for
serious offences.

"The current practice of allowing some criminals who have been
convicted of serious violent, sexual, weapons or drug offences to
serve out their sentences at home is unconscionable," said Harper in
his speech to the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. "Under Canada's new
national government, serious offenders are going to serve out their
sentences where they ought to -- in prison."

Mackintosh and other provincial justice ministers have been asking
for a tightening of the use of conditional sentences for at least two
years, saying they erode public confidence in the justice system. In
Manitoba, a number of cases where conditional sentences were handed
out have shocked the community and victims of crimes, including
several cases of a drunk drivers who killed or maimed someone.

But if conditional sentences are given the boot, it will add hundreds
of convicted Manitobans to the jail system. According to Manitoba
Justice officials, there are 843 people currently serving a
conditional sentence in Manitoba.

Most if not all of them would end up serving their sentences in
provincial jails, as conditional sentences were only available for
convicts sentenced to less than two years. Provincial jails house
people sentenced to up to two years less a day. Anything longer than
that means they go to federal penitentiaries.

Mackintosh said he is pleased that both Harper and Justice Minister
Vic Toews -- who is also Manitoba's senior cabinet minister -- have
discussed the possibility of providing funding assistance for
provinces on this issue.

Tight Squeeze In Manitoba Jails

FACILITY---------------------CAPACITY---CURRENT POPULATION

Headingley Correctional Centre --------459--------632

Remand Centre-----------------------289--------395

Brandon Correctional Centre-----------160-------- 90

Milner Ridge Correctional Centre------114--------111

The Pas Correctional Centre-----------74----------82

Dauphin Correctional Centre-----------61----------52

Portage Correctional Centre-----------35---------50

- -- Manitoba Justice, as of April 20