PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Prisoners at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert are now taking part in a sporadic strike by federal inmates that began in Ontario over a cut in their pay.
The inmates are protesting a 30-per-cent cut that took effect this week when the federal government began deducting the money from prisoners’ cheques to recover costs under Ottawa’s Deficit Reduction Action Plan.
Inmates are also taking part in strikes at prisons in Quebec and New Brunswick.
Cooking, cleaning, collecting garbage and repair work normally done by inmates is now being handled by prison staff.
When Global News asked for clarification from the office of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness they provided us with the following statement.
“Prisoners who work hard will be paid. Prisoners who do not work will not be paid. We are teaching prisoners a valuable lesson for when they are released: you only get paid when you put in a hard day at work. The government is unmoved by this “prisoner work stoppage” – a silly publicity stunt that will impact no one but the prisoners themselves, by making them poorer.”
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