Last week the most recent statistics regarding prisoner “recidivism” rates in Manitoba were released and the news is very bleak. The recidivism numbers measure how many people who are released from Manitoba jails are charged with committing another crime within two years of their release.
The statistics showed that 71% of adults who are released from provincial jails such as Headingley jail are charged with a new crime within two years of their release. And as if that number isn’t bad enough, it’s even worse when looking at youth. 90% of all young people who leave a Manitoba youth facility after having served time are charged with a new criminal offence within two years.
The re-offence rates for prisoners in our province are as bad or worse as any we have seen in North America. It is clear that Manitoba jails are nothing more than a revolving door where criminals enter, spend some time, and then get released back out on the street to resume a life of crime.
Most alarming is the fact that these re-offense statistics have been high for a number of years. The NDP government has known for years that it was operating a revolving door on the front of the prisons in Manitoba and it has done nothing to change it. It should be clear that the stubbornly high violent crime rate that we have in the province of Manitoba will not change until what is happening in our jails changes.
As Progressive Conservatives we believe strongly that there needs to be consequences for crime. People who commit serious crimes should face serious consequences. But doing time doesn’t have to be wasted time. Today, under the NDP government, criminals go into our prisons and come right back out with the same problems and attitudes that they went into prison with. And they go right back to victimizing innocent Manitobans.
Prisoners in Manitoba go into our jails with addiction issues, mental health issues, gang affiliations and a host of other problems and more often than not, they come out with the same challenges. What is happening in the jails in Manitoba simply is not working. Many gang members for example lead very much the same life in our jails as they did when they were on the streets. They spend time with their fellow gang members thinking of different crimes to commit when they are released.
If Manitoba is ever to reduce its violent crime rate it has to start with what is happening in our jail system. The vast majority of people released from these jails just go out and commit more crimes and create more victims. The NDP just don’t seem able to stop the revolving door on Manitoba jails from spinning.
