The bulk of the federal bureaucracy is bracing for significant across-the-board cuts, but Canada’s prison system is on a hiring blitz to fill more than 4,000 new jobs.Positions ranging from correctional and parole officers, to medical and technical staff are all being recruited to meet demands of an increasing inmate population.
Correctional Service of Canada runs 57 institutions with varying security levels, incarcerating about 14,222 inmates last year. By the end of 2014, it will add 2,700 new spaces across the country by building new units, adding double bunks to cells and hiring more than 4,000 staff.
“Hiring is now taking place at several sites and pools of qualified candidates are in place to ensure that appropriate staffing levels are maintained as the offender population increases,” said CSC spokeswoman Suzanne Leclerc. “Numbers of front-line, administrative and management staff are trained and on site. The exact number of new employees will be determined using existing staffing formulas and will include not only correctional officers, but also program officers, parole officers, health professionals and other technical and support staff. These additional staff provide CSC with the capacity it needs to carry out its mandate and deliver the programs and treatment to keep pace with the offender population growth.”
Expansion is driven by a number of factors, including new tough-on-crime legislation and CSC’s “transformation agenda.”
Work on new units is underway at several penitentiaries across the country, with construction contracts awarded for 16 of the 37 institutions slated for expansion. Actual construction is now going on at Kent, Mission, Bowden, Drumheller, Fenbrook, Cowansville and Springhill institutions and modifications at Okimaw Ohci have been completed.
In addition to expanding existing institutions, CSC’s plan includes making full use of all available beds across the country, using double-bunking where appropriate, expanding delivery of correctional, education and work programs and supervision in the community. At the same time, CSC is working diligently to ensure offenders participate in their correctional plans and are well prepared for safe, gradual and supervised return to communities when eligible.
Pierre Mallette, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, estimates about 2,000-2,500 new hires will be guards, and insisted a clear and concise plan must be in place to hire quality candidates for the positions instead of rushing to fill recruitment targets fast. This hiring blitz is the biggest in several decades.
“It’s important for us to find good people to be correctional officers. We want professional staff, good members,” he said.
Mallette said correctional officers must be able to remain calm and manage high-stress situations.
“People think you’re looking for big, muscled guys – it’s more than that,” he said. “You have to be great mentally, and able to make a good evaluation about a situation.”
The national average cost to train a new correctional officer at a CSC staff college is about $18,000, which includes training material, recruits’ meals, accommodations, travel and instructor costs. The training program is provided free of charge, but recruits aren’t entitled to salary or benefits during the training phase. After completing the training program, successful recruits may be offered employment and on-the-job training. It costs about $2,200 to equip each correctional officer with the necessary uniforms and protective gear.
In order to be selected for an interview, candidates must complete a pre-employment questionnaire designed to gauge “honesty, suitability, integrity and ethics.”
“CSC is not looking for flawless individuals, but looks for appropriately qualified applicants who reflect CSC’s values and integrity,” it reads.
Candidates are required to answer questions about criminal activities, association with offenders, gambling and drinking habits, and finances. They are also asked if they have engaged in unlawful sexual activities, such as tourism for sex with minors, solicitation with prostitution and child pornography.
NDP MP and public safety critic Jasbir Sandhu said the Conservatives’ priorities are out of line with evidence that shows tougher, costlier tough-on-crime measures do not lead to safer communities.
“This is the wrong approach. We need to be proactive instead of reactive, building prisons and hiring guards,” he said, citing prevention programs, help for mentally ill and enhanced policing as better alternatives. “Clearly, these Draconian measures are leading Canada in a direction that has proven to be a dead end in the United States.”
huge emotional impact on inmates that will affect prison conditions, morale of staff, and could lead to more unease and violence in prisons.
Original Article
Source: iPolitico
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