Feds dole out $80 million to expand B.C. prisons

The federal government will spend almost $80 million to expand B.C. prisons, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced Monday.

At an Abbotsford news conference Toews said the larger facilities will create space for hundreds of new inmates.

"Our government is proud to be on the right side of this issue – the side of law-abiding citizens, the side of victims who want justice, and the side that understands the cost of a safe and secure society is an investment worth making," Toews said.

"The expansion of institutions in the Fraser Valley not only reaffirms our government’s commitment to British Columbia, but helps ensure that criminals serve sentences that better reflect the severity of their crimes."

This $77.5-million expansion will involve the construction of one new 96-bed living unit at Kent Institution, one new 96-bed living unit at Matsqui a new 96-bed chronic care unit at Pacific Institution, a 50-bed living unit at Ferndale Institution and 24 new spaces at Fraser Valley Institution.

Toews said the new spaces should be completed in 2013-2014.

With the elimination of the routine crediting of double-time for pre-trial custody, more inmates will be serving more of their full sentences, Conservative MP Ed Fast said Monday.

"In the previous system, a violent criminal sentenced to nine years in prison could potentially be on our streets in as little as three years if he or she spent two years awaiting trial. This possibility is not acceptable to Canadians," Fast said. "We are acting to ensure that criminals pay their debt – their full debt – to society."