Regina Provincial Correctional Centre, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
January 25, 2016
Prisoners at the Regina Correctional Centre staged at least three meal refusals since November of 2015. The refusals reportedly came in response to the privatization of food service at the facility. Since Compass Group Canada took on service last year, prisoners say food quality and frequency has degraded . Prisoners also took issue with the length of time between supper and breakfast, a full 14 hours.
One prisoner, Forrest Duane Pelletier, said of the food, “There’s more carbohydrates and there’s more starch than there is protein on the tray. We’ve been trying to fight with them about this this whole time.”
Since the refusals, Pelletier said he and other prisoners have been taking on other methods besides hunger strikes. “We refused to lock up (Monday) because the food’s not enough and we’re tired of hunger strikes,” he says.
At least 75% of inmates in Saskatchewan correctional facilities are First Nations People and half are on remand (awaiting trial or sentencing). Pelletier stated, “We feel like the government, the Saskatchewan Party, has been bullying First Nations people … It seems like [in SP’s] model, you’re guilty until proven innocent, and [they] assume that we’re already guilty for being in prison in the first place … A lot of us never had our day in court.”
Citations
“Regina Correctional Centre inmate “tired of hunger strikes,” says food has not improved“, Regina Leader-Post, January 25, 2016
Article published: 9/11/19
