NEW JAIL NOT ENOUGH

PORTAGE Correctional Institute has long been a point of shame for the
provincial government, a dilapidated old warehouse where women who
have been charged with or convicted of criminal offences are held
behind bars. Built in 1893 to hold 35 inmates, it was home to 56 women
on Thursday, leaving them little more than a place to sleep, eat and
space to socialize.

Barely. It is high time to tear it down -- Justice Minister Gord
Mackintosh is said to be ready to announce a date -- but replacing it
with another high-security jail alone will not reduce crime.

The shortcomings of the Portage jail are immediately apparent to
visitors. Inmates must meet visitors, including their lawyers, on a
bench in a small entry just inside the massive bolted door. There is
no privacy.

Crowding in the jail leaves almost no room for programs to tackle the
problems that led the inmates to trouble -- abusive childhoods,
substance addictions and poverty.

The vast majority of the women are aboriginal, mothers, high-school
dropouts and convicted of minor crimes, such as theft or
drug/alcohol-related offences. Some are held in Portage on remand,
awaiting trial.

Most of those convicted of offences are considered low risk to the
community and their sentences average less than half a year. That is
plenty of time, however, to lose custody of their children to the
state, a severe consequence that can compound a woman's destructive
slide.

The distance to the Portage jail, and the lack of appropriate visiting
space, makes it difficult or near impossible for family visits.

Men in jail and prison have access to counselling to work on managing
their anger, building self-esteem and battling addictions, along with
opportunities to develop work skills.

All of these things are in painfully short supply or non-existent for
women inmates in Manitoba. Some of those women need to be behind bars
but most of the inmates sentenced to provincial jail terms need help
to break out of a cycle of self-abuse and petty crime that results
from addictions or the need for cash to feed their habits. They, like
any man locked up in Stony Mountain or Headingley Jail, need intensive
counselling, access to mental health services and education and skills
training.

This can be done in urban settings, under limited supervision. Mr.
Mackintosh will spend many millions of dollars constructing a new jail
to lock up Manitoba women.

If his plan stops there, his new jail will fill up and overflow, soon
after it opens its doors.

What is needed in the north and south of Manitoba are small, locked
facilities, capable of holding higher risk inmates, but also
minimum-security quarters where women can remain closer to their home
communities and get treatment for addictions and other problems while
they pay their debt to society.