Overcrowding in Clarenville not an isolated problem, needs solution, says justice minister

A group of female prisoners are being moved from the Clarenville Women's Correctional Facility to Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's.

CBC news has learned that about eight female prisoners are expected to make the move before Christmas.

"We're monitoring it right now and there is a move anticipated," said Justice Minister Andrew Parsons on Tuesday. "The move will see them transferred to HMP here in St. John's."

"It seems like it is not necessarily an isolated incident so it presents us with a number of challenges here. We don't want to have a situation where we are transferring people back and forth on a regular basis."

Parsons said one option is to build a new, bigger prison.

"A new prison has been talked about for decades and I think it does have to happen. I've talked about the possibility of having some womens' capacity at that new institution here in St. John's," he said.

However, Parsons also said overcrowding can't be seen as just an infrastructure problem.

"When we see increased numbers, we have to look at why are they there – addictions, mental health issues – because seems to me that you keep building a bigger prison but is the number going to stop? We have to work on why are people there in the first place," he said.

Bigger Problem

Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees also says Chronic overcrowding at the Clarenville facility suggests there's a bigger problem, said Earle.

"This is a couple of times now," he said. "It shows that the facility there is basically bursting at the seams."

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Earle said the correctional officers in Clarenville are facing "significant challenges," and the move creates a different challenging dynamic at HMP, as staff try to accommodate female inmates at the male facility.

We all need to have a dialogue about what's happening in society today that's leading to this.- Jerry Earle

As a result of the move, Earle said men who serve intermittent sentences on the weekends will now spend the weekends sleeping on cots in the gymnasium.

"It adds extra stress in a facility that's already stressed — in both facilities," said Earle.

'Speaks to a bigger problem'

Earle said the change has affected some of the correctional officers' vacation and leave requests that were already supposed to be approved.

According to Earle, the frequent overcrowding in Clarenville shows there are more women being incarcerated today than previously — and the facility isn't capable of meeting that demand.

The solution, he said, needs to be looked at for the long term, not as a temporary fix when there is overcrowding.

"It speaks to a bigger problem ... I think we all need to have a dialogue about what's happening in society today that's leading to this," he said.

"This is a couple of times now in seven or eight months that we've had overcapacity."