Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 2, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba It costs to jail a Man who can t pay Fine by Cecil Kosner free press staff writer. It does t seem to make very Good corrections minister j. R. Bud Boyce Manitoba says reflect ing on Canada s prison system. We Fine someone or 30 Days and if he does t pay the Fine we put him in jail which costs us or. Boyce in t the Only one confused about the system. Social workers Legal reformers and criminologists Are seriously starting to ask the question Why do we put people in jail at one time Canada was reported to have the highest per capita prison popu lation in the Western world. Today roughly people Are sentenced to jail terms every year and Canada s prisons have a permanent population of about Bui Why Are so Many people in Pris on the Law Reform commission of Canada found in a recent study that 50 per cent of people in local and provincial jails were imprisoned because they could t pay fines. And it s not that Many of them were unwilling about 40 per cent of the people jailed for default ing had made partial payment. Many social workers agree with the commission s finding that More than 80 per cent of prison inmates Aren t dangerous to society. So Why critics ask must Canadian taxpayers pay an estimated a year to have each prisoner locked up prison terms do very or. Boyce admitted in an interview. A glance at the statistics reveals that re habilitation is All but a forgotten Ideal of the prison system. Of All inmates entering Federal penitentiaries every year Only 20 per cent arc coming to jail for the first time. It s possible or. Boyce indicated that Many people go to jail because of their financial inability to pay fines. He said this could partially explain the High proportion of Indian and Metis in prisons. A Good number of native people Are in jail for non payment of or. Boyce said. In Saskatchewan where the native inmate population is highest 57 per cent of All native prisoners Are jailed for defaulting on fines which were imposed for property offences. And 50 per cent of Manitoba s inmates Are native even though they constitute just 12 per cent of the population. Although he recognizes Many of the existing problems or. Boyce is wary of pushing reforms too quickly. While North american society has been mov ing steadily from a system of punish ment to one of correction and rehabilitation since the second world War said or. Boyce much work has to be done to convince the Public that changes Are necessary. People have a natural propensity to approach new ideas with he said. And he admitted that this Public conservatism was one of the factors holding Back reforms which he feels would prove beneficial. Or. Boyce who has headed the correction ministry since it was created in july 1974, changed some of his id As about the criminal Justice system after he attended the recent United nations conference on criminology in Geneva he returned with information about How Britain is de emphasizing the use of prisons in favor of treatment centres located inside the Community a system which the corrections department is studying with a View to introducing Sim Ilar legislation in Manitoba. The British explained or. Boyce Are diverting Many property offenders from jails and sending them to Community centres where it is Felt they have a bet Ter Chance at rehabilitation. Inmates at the centres Are encouraged and helped to find jobs so that they can continue to support their families As Well As pay part of the costs of their incarceration. In Canada judges usually have to de cide whether to sentence an offender to prison on the one hand or to place him on probation. The British have widened the judge s alternatives or. Boyne said by giving him the option of sentencing people to mandatory work ser vice in the Community. Compared to the British system fewer than 125 Canada s in Winnipeg free press mates have regular paying jobs inside prisons. In most Federal institutions the maximum a prisoner is allowed to earn is one Dollar a Day and goods Are rarely produced for Sale on the marketplace. A number of prison administrators have recently come to the realization that the absence of meaningful work programs in jails contributes to an off Ender s difficulty in finding a Job after release. About 40 prisoners at the Ontario correctional Centre in Guelph ont., Are working in a slaughterhouse in nearby Hamilton and earning wages Between ?3.20 and an hour. Work projects involving Wood cutting and furniture manufacturing Are being run in British co Lumbia Alberta and new Brunswick As Well although inmates there Are receiving close to minimum wages. Administrators feel the work pro Grams Benefit taxpayers and prisoners equally. Working inmates Are expected to pay for their room and Board and help defray some of the costs of the criminal Justice machinery in Canada which is costing about billion a year. Work programs at head Ugley jail Are limited because of the mix of the popu lation there or. Boyce said. A work farm at the jail had to be closed recently because of vandalism and abuse of the facilities by some inmates he said. But the government Hopes to organize More work projects in the future he said. A Park maintenance project is soon to be established where inmates will earn an hour and another 50 in mates will Lake part in a logging Camp operation shortly air. Boyce said. Or. Boyce sees jails essentially As a last resort for offenders. The courts and criminal Justice system act As a screen and people Are diverted at various stages from actually serving a full term in prison. The people remaining Are custodial or. Boyce said. The min ister feels heading Ley jail inmates fall into this category. Perhaps the most important people in the screening process Are judges or. Boyce said. And he said it is essential to provide them with As much information As possible on each offender by Means of pre sentence reports. But when it comes to sentencing judges often find themselves in a dilemma. Should a Man who has committed a Petty property offence and is clearly in need of psychiatric treatment be sentenced to prison Many judges in Manitoba Wiio argue that the province does t have an Ade quate facility to Deal with such offend ers feel there is no Choice but to Send them to prison. Unlike other provinces which Are experimenting with special wings on hospitals to treat offenders Manitoba has no specific Centre equipped to with criminals in need of mental treatment. Or. Boyce argues that the establish ment of such centres would require tremendous expense and he questions their effectiveness since even the Best psychiatrists have limited Success with Vio Lent Anli social but he admit Ted that the government has probably not made enough medical services available in this area As it could have. Stony Mountain Penitentiary has one full time psychiatrist for its 450 in mates. According to some prisoners there up to 20 per cent of the inmate population receives a daily ration of a tranquil Lizer drink they Call Bug which helps them Cope with the Rigours of prison life. As Long As they get their Bug juice they re said one inmate. Or. Boyce said there is one part time psychiatrist who makes regular visits to heading Ley jail and other provincial institutions As Well. Other provinces will be watching developments in the Field of corrections1 Here closely in the future. Or. Boyce. Said it was principally his own initiative which was responsible for the last year of a separate corrections de Parl sent making Manitoba the first province to do so. But the Job has l been an easy one. I nearly quil the first year out of frus or. Boyce said. Now with More experience and Access to Bette resources he says there is a better Chance to accomplish useful reforms. Friday january. 2, 1976 2nd class mail registration number 0286 pension disclosure opinion wanted the Manitoba legislature s standing committee on Lalu tory regulations and orders will seek Public opinion on legislation that would require employers to disclose and Register with the government All private pension plans. The committee will hold a Public meeting at 10 . Jan. 12 in room 254 of the legislative building. The legislation was referred to the committee during the 1975 session of the legislature. The hearings will Deal with Section two of the legislation which provides for registration of private pensions Vest ing and Locking in require ments and the contents of pension plans. The first part of the legis lation deals Wilh the setting ii of a pensions commission and the appointment of a superintendent of pensions premiered Schreyer said earlier this year thai he wanted the legislature s com Mittee to make a More com p r e h c n s i v e and detailed study of the Complex second Section. Bolh progressive conservative and Liberal opposition members of the legislature praised the government for introducing the measure but they agreed detailed study was needed before implementing it. Or. Schreyer said the government realized the Impact of the legislation on certain companies could result in considerable confusion for the first few years. For that reason he said the pensions commission will have author Ity to vary from the Legisla Tion for. A five year interim period. After five years allem p i o y e r s in the province should be complying with provisions of the legislation. Immediate implementation might have put some Small businesses into serious Finan Cial difficulty or. Schreyer said. Dentists Aren t telling fee the Manitoba denial association raised ils fees thursday but the dentists Aren t telling the size of the increase. Or. E. G. Detroit association president said the in crease is within Federal anti inf Lialiou guidelines and pro transmission troupes of Dice a test the automatic 157 Portage 786-2437 m0 Nairn 667-1595 1311 Mcphilips 586-8049 Pembina 453-4124 weather report for the Prairie a Cloudy sky covered most of the Prairies overnight and some Light Snow was. Also re ported. A High pressure area Over great slave Lake is forecast to move southward and will give Cloudy conditions to Alberta and Saskatchewan today while a Low pressure system moving into Northwestern Ontario will give Strong northerly winds and blowing Snow to South Ern Manitoba. Indications Are that mainly sunny and cold conditions will prevail Over most of the Prairies Tomor Row. Figures on the map indicate expected High temperatures today Vinci Al and Federal govern ments and dental insurance plans Are aware of the new schedule. I m not prepared to Tell the percentage. That s the Way we want to do it. We have not Liing to dental fees increased an average 22 per cent last March and this increase is designed to move the dental fees to a Calendar year he High wind Drifting expected a weather advisory was is sued for Southern Manitoba today warning of winds of up to 30 . And Drifting Snow expected to make driving hazardous. The forecaster said the advisory is Only a caution. It was t a warning which is More serious. Winnipeg was expected to get Light Snow today but no appreciable amount. Northwestern Ontario i s expected to Bear the Brunt of the storm and be hit by As much As seven inches of Snow. Early today winds were from the Northwest at about 16 . But were expected to increase to 30 . About noon causing heavy Drifting. The weather office said a Low pressure system in southwestern Minnesota i s moving towards Southern Manitoba and Western on Tario. Said. The increase is just moving with the times and the costs of dental the higher fees would be spread Over the Range of dental services with some going up and others Down he said. Most dentists charge according to the schedule but some charge More and others charge less. Each dentist evaluates his own situation in setting fees. Patients can ask their dentists whether or not they for. Low the schedule he said. However one dentist s of fice called by a patient re fused to indicate Over i the Telephone the amount of the increase or of the fees. The office would t indicate the charge for a filling or a rays under old or new schedules saying these would have to be discussed on an individual basis with the dentist. The dentist was out. Or. Derrett said he did t think it would be fair to publicize the amount of the fee increase being charged. It s within the he repeated. That s the important the new schedule was drawn up for the association by a consultant according to a formula Laking into account rising costs of doing business he said. He said he did t expect any further increases in Den Tal fees during 1976. Stony Mountain Penitentiary makes you feel like a Centre eases prisoner s path police station shut a closing ceremony was held thursday afternoon at the Winnipeg police depart ment s East Kildonan Sta Tion 545 Watt Street. T h e Slation s operations have been switched to 730 Pandora Avenue West Transcona. Bill Mollelle 43, has been in and. Out of jail since he was 16. La 1969, when he was convicted of armed robbery in London out., a judge decided he was dangerous to society and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. He was sent first to Kingston Penitentiary and then to Stony Mountain in 1971. He has been there Ever since. Three weeks ago or. Jal Lelle Gol the Chance he had been hoping for. After in Olhs of waiting the National parole Board approved his application to enter a Community correctional Day parole Centre at 45 Edmon ton Street. If a Guy can t make it Here he can t make it any or. Mallette said in an interview at the Centre. Under Day parole regulations he must i Epolit to the residence by 11 . Daily but is free to come and go As he pleases at other times. Every inmate sees his us Simale goal As release from prison bul the reality of being Back on the Streel can be frightening. The con trolled life of prisons offer a sense of Security unavailable on the outside. Or. Mall the described the Penitentiary atmosphere As making you feel like a a temperature following Are High 1 lures recorded yes Low temperatures for hour period which end . Today and Preci for the 24-hour Perio ended at 6 . Today citation of snowfall is time tres and the am rainfall in millimetre Max. Vancouver 3 Calgary -6 Edmonton temper Ter Day the 12-Le d Al 6 citation 1 which Preci in Cen out of s. Min. Part. -3 -13 .3 -16 .8 -23 1.5 -28 3.0 -26 1.0 -28 .8 -11 5.3 -9 2.5 -13 a Ter Lake Gions 1 tinned Casio a the Chi North . And Oci in exp Tomoum ight n Row it dec. 31 Jan. 1 lost Winnipeg Bissell in and red River re Vieather. Advisory con sunny today with oc-1 Cloudy periods and me of Snow flurries est wind at 20 to 30 giving heavy Drifting Cas ional blowing Snow used areas. Clearing morning of ton ear -25c High is. I Peg temperature comparisons Max. Min. Mean t. The Pas Thunder Bay Kenora -8 -10.4 -15.3-12.8 r -8.6-20.0 -14.3 -12.8-22.2-17.8 Toronto Mon real -4 -3 .0 -22 -4 .3 -1 16 3 -1 .27 on record 4.4 in 1880 lowest on record -43.3 in 1885 precipitation total Lor nov. 1 to Jan. 2 8.9 Millimetres Normal 37.9 Millimetres. Max. Min. Part. Johannesburg 29 Chicago 3, los. Angeles Minneapolis 16 1 22 3 6 12 10 1 2 22 2 -2 0 11 of Fornix 8 London Madrid Moscow Paris Rio Rome 14 7 10 9 10 14 -1 -1 4 2 33 19 .10 3 Beirut Berlin 15 s but nos Aires Copenhagen 33 7 -4 Stockholm Tel Tokyo 28 22 7 0 Helsinki 17 8 Hong Kong Bill Mallette outside Community Day parole Centre on Edmonton Street. Chine. Everything works like clockwork. It takes a Long Lime to gel away from that it also takes time to get used to working for a living again after years of relatively Idle existence in penitent t i a r y or. Mallette said work programs in prison Are Short duration nol very meaningful and Low paying. Al Stony Mountain the most anyone can earn in a Day is one Dollar he said. In six years he s managed to save about or. Mallette has t found a Job yet but he attributes. It More to the tight Job Market than to his previous criminal activity. I m Dol having that much of a problem be cause of my he said. James Thompson director o f the federally is or adored corrections Centre said most employers take a positive attitude about hiring sex criminals. Almost All of the c e u t r e s 20 residents Are working and a few Are at lending University he said. The nine bedroom Centre which has All the facilities of a Well equipped College Resi Dence houses about 75 in mates a year. It in t intended for every prisoner about to be released but Only those who Don t have relatives or friends in the Community or. Thompson said. Residents can receive a full parole from the Centre or if they violate Day parole regulations they May be re turned to Penitentiary. Only 15 per cent a year have had to returned to jail or. Thompson said and in the two years since he has been director 34 people have been patrolled. Two of the Centre s Resi dents Are serving terms for life imprisonment. They arc hoping to earn time off their sentences by demonstrating an ability to live inside the Community or. Thompson said. But readjusting to the Community can be a difficult task for anyone who has spent time in the artificial and anti social environment of a prison. Or. Mallette said that life in Slony Mountain was dominated by frustration and uncertainly Al How administrators and even fellow inmates would acl. Inmates who need Psychia tric treatment but who Are left in the general prison population Are a constant concern for most prisoners or. Mallette said. In Stony Mountain which has one psychiatrist to look after 450 prisoners such inmates Are a danger to themselves As Well As others he said. You sitting next to someone for a Long Lime and not know what he s like until he suddenly or. Mallette said. Occasionally the 12 member inmate advisory Council at the Penitentiary would inform the administration about certain prisoners perhaps suggesting that they be taken out of the general population. But or. Mallette who was chairman of the Council for a Short period said such suggestions were often disregarded. As or. Mallette said administrators Don l like to be told their or. Mallette feels his life started to change after he established Contact with a Volunteer visitor to the prison about three years ago. I became part of his family and for the first time people started treating me like a human at first eur. Mallette said he questioned the motives of h i s visitor. Why anyone would want to offer him something without gelling anything in return was foreign to his Way of think ing. But soon the two devel oped a Strong said lasting relationship he said. Or. Mallette is scheduled to be released next sep tember and he has every Hope of trying to make it on his own this time. He plans to Lake a course in heavy machinery operation and feels confident he can find a full Lime Job. Clarence Epp who is director of an Agency sends Volunteer visitors to prisons says that almost every inmate can Benefit from the service. Or. Epp is director of open Circle a Friendship and counselling service for inmates run by the mennonite Central com Mittee in Manitoba. It s said or. Epp in an interview we Don t want to live in society with muggers or purse snatchers but in prison people have to live Wilh murderers and that s Why it is especially important to provide inmates a link Wilh the Community or. Epp said. The Agency does t restrict itself to particular types of offenders and will even counsel people with life sentences he said. Aren t too concerned about measuring our or. Epp said. The Agency deals with about 40 inmates a month. Or. Epp said he thinks too Many people Are being sent to prison in Canada. Little rehabilitation can take place inside an institution. It does t make sense sending some Nieh to Pris said or. Epp. All so c i a 1 responsibilities Slop when he gels there but Thal s usually the Man s problem in the first or. Epp agreed thai employers Are More concerned about a person s employment experience than his prison record. But attitudes were quite different when he first entered the Field of corrections 12 years ago he said. One of the reasons for the change in Atli Ludo toward sex prisoners May be the work of agencies hike or. Epp s and organizations which provide information Aboul criminal Justice. One such Organiza Tion called Converse was started earlier this year by two former workers in a United Church Halfway House for inmates Gail Krotz and Anna Woods. Joseph Vecchione executive director of the John Howard and Elizabeth Fry society agrees that Many misconceptions o f inmates and prison Fife persist. Vecchione feels the Only solution is to reduce the size the prisons with a View eventually to replacing them with smaller Community realm enl centres. But i m not naive enough to Sug Gest there would t be prob lems Wilh this brother charged in death a 22-year-old Man was shot to deals after a new year s eve party in a Resi Dence on Adamar Road in Forl Garry police said. Dead is Randy Guy Mcdonald of 595 River Avenue suite 204. He was shot in the Chest with a .308 calibre Rifle. Police have taken into Cus Tody his brother Elvin Allan Ross Mcdonald 23, of 110 Adamar Road. The shooting occurred about . Thursday. He was charged with murder punishable by life imprison ment and remanded in Cus Tody without plea to Jan. 9. Randy Mcdonald was shot three limes in the Chest at 110 Adamar Road suite 826, police said. Or. Mcdonald and his brother had been arguing Aslo who was the. Better police said. Randy Mcdonald was fired at four times police said. Four people were in the suite at the time they said ;