Statement made on 24 March 2010 by Senator Joan Fraser
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, as we all know, the passage of successive bills that increase minimum prison terms for various offences will increase the prison population in Canada. The Minister of Public Safety has confirmed that there are no plans, at least at the moment, for the construction of new prisons and that the increased prison population will be accommodated in new facilities, which, as I understand the minister, means trailers or other semi-temporary accommodations within existing prisons, or by double bunking.
As of last fall, 10 per cent of the inmates in federal prisons were already double bunked. Federal prisons, I remind the minister, are those where one goes when serving a sentence of two years or more; they are not short-term accommodations.
My question to the leader is how many more prisoners will we be double bunking and for how long?
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