Pine Grove Correctional Facility over capacity, Saskatchewan society seeks help

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan is calling on the Ministry of Public Safety to provide sustainable funding for alternative options to incarceration for Indigenous women in the province.

The request comes after the results of an annual report for the Office of the Correctional Investigator, which found that approximately 90 to 95 per cent of incarcerated women in the province are Indigenous.

The provincial government said the average annual percentage of Indigenous female inmates in provincial correctional facilities between 2018 and 2023 was 85 per cent.

Statistics Canada released an over-representation index in July that found Saskatchewan had the highest Indigenous over-representation in the country at 17.7 times higher than the non-Indigenous population.

Indigenous women’s numbers were even higher, at 28.5 times higher than non-Indigenous women.

“We are having issues with overcapacity at Pine Grove Correctional Centre,” said Nicole Obrigavitch, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society. “It has been consistently over capacity since spring.”

She said in the summer, the correctional facility was holding 275 women; its official capacity is 166. According to Obrigavitch, 150 of the inmates at the time were on remand awaiting trial.

“Unfortunately, they aren’t even able to operate their constitutional right to get bail because there isn’t any housing that is appropriate for them.”

She said women are currently being released into the community with no housing, despite the days getting colder.

The report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator called for decarceration initiatives and adequate support for gradual reintegration into the community.

“The solution lies in providing services and supports in the community that lead to diversion and decarceration rather than sustaining a system that perpetuates trauma onto already marginalized individuals. We cannot overstate the gravity of Saskatchewan’s housing crisis.”

Correctional Services Canada said it remains committed to addressing the over-representation of Indigenous people in Canadian criminal justice facilities.

“While the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) cannot influence the decisions that bring offenders into our custody, we remain committed to working collaboratively with Indigenous communities, Elders, and advisory boards to support the rehabilitation and safe reintegration of Indigenous offenders into the community,” read an email statement from the office.

“Fundamentally, the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and correctional institutions is a reflection of the systemic disparities that all levels of government must work to fix, and CSC is committed to taking further actions to address those systemic factors.”

It noted it has hired a deputy commissioner for Indigenous corrections this year and created Indigenous intervention centres, employment initiatives and several new programs recently.

“Prior to the newly released report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI), we had implemented over 90 per cent of the commitments we put forward in our responses to the OCI’s recommendations in the last ten years. CSC recognizes there is always more work to do, and we continue to work in partnership to implement our commitments.”

Obrigavitch said that moving forward, the Elizabeth Fry Society will be doing its part by creating more diversion programming.

“A lot of our programming is around supporting women that already have charges or are already in conflict with the law and we would like to make a shift to providing some more diversion sort of programming. Programming to assist women so they don’t get themselves in situations of poverty, survival crimes and that sort of thing.”

The society is also looking into acquiring housing for women in the community on remand with full supports.

“We are hoping to get some housing so we can provide housing and stability for people so that they can basically start to address some of the underlying issues like trauma, addiction, abuse and poverty because when you address those sorts of things then you don’t need to be committing crimes.”

Obrigavitch said she has expressed her concerns to the province.

“The Government of Saskatchewan recently announced it will invest $7.16 million to develop 155 new supportive housing units to provide on-site and visiting support and connection to wrap-around services to help individuals find stability,” an email statement from the Ministry of Social Services read. “This number includes the new partnership with Saskatoon Tribal Council to provide supportive housing services in 55 housing units in the SHC-owned Kotawan property in Saskatoon.”

A separate email from the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety noted its partnership with the Saskatoon Tribal Council and other programs they have funded.

“In 2023-24 the Community Safety and Wellbeing Branch is providing $304,283 to Kate’s Place. Kate’s Place is a supportive residence operated by Salvation Army Regina for women who are either participating in the Regina Drug Treatment Court (RDTC) or are being supervised by Community Corrections. Kate’s Place has eight 2-bedroom units that enable women to re-enter their community as pro-social, independently housed individuals,” the email read.

“Community Safety and Wellbeing Branch also supports Community Connections, an evidence-based reintegration program that connects sentenced, high-risk clients between the ages of 12 and 24 with sustainable community supports to help reduce their risk of re-offending. The 2023-24 budget for Community Connections is approximately $2.7M, which funds 11 programs offered in Regina (2), Yorkton, Saskatoon (2), Onion Lake, Prince Albert (2), Touchwood, Fort Qu’Appelle, and La Ronge.”

When asked, neither ministry expressed any plans for additional housing options or programming, only pointing to previous commitments made by the province.