The new Headingley jail for women has been touted by the NDP government as a model for new correction centres. And yet, just months after it was opened, it is already operating just like every other jail in Manitoba, well over capacity. Opened just last year and designed to house 168 female inmates, it currently has 212 prisoners.
There are several reasons for the almost immediate overcrowding in the new jail. One is that the court system in Manitoba is very slow and as a result more than half of those in the prison are not even sentenced but simply waiting for their day in court.
The other problem is that within our corrections system there is nothing actually happening that corrects behavior. Rather, most of those that leave provincial jails are right back in trouble with the law a short time later. And so overcrowding persists.
The NDP government has promised to speed up the court system by having court sit longer and on Saturdays. Despite that promise more than a year ago, court still does not operate on Saturdays and cases keep backing up. The NDP also promised to come forward with a new strategy on reducing the re-offence rate for those leaving our jail system. That has not materialized yet either. And as a result, a new corrections centre that was supposed to be the model for other jails in Manitoba and Canada is just another overcrowded facility where the majority of those who leave, will come back soon after having committed another crime.
