The John Howard Society says the province’s correctional facilities are “bursting at the seams”.
Executive Director Cindy Murphy says the Labrador Correctional Facility was closed for asbestos abatement, and the inmates were transferred to facilities on the island – mainly the West Coast Correctional Centre, exacerbating the problem.
“Overcrowding is just off the charts down there,” says Murphy. “It’s not only in our correctional facilities that are full, the lockups, the women’s institution in Clarenville, it’s full and overcapacity, every lockup in the province…is at capacity or higher.”