Manitoba’s justice minister says the government’s upcoming budget will include an additional $14 million spent on corrections, as the union representing provincial corrections officers raised concerns about overcrowding and understaffing in facilities across Manitoba.

“In our budget, we’re going to see a $14 million increase to corrections,” said Justice Minister Matt Wiebe during a media scrum on Friday, pointing to “damage that was done by the previous government,” such as the closure of the Dauphin Correctional Centre. 

“We’re gonna put the money towards corrections and we’re going to support our workers on the front line,” he said. 

Wiebe said the province is working to recruit more staff, with about 150 new corrections workers hired.

He said recruits considering careers as corrections officers are eligible to receive a $2,800 stipend during the mandatory eight-week training program. The province also started a pilot project that has corrections officers starting on a full-time basis, as opposed to the traditional part-time start before graduating to full-time work, Wiebe said. 

“What we’re trying to send the message is that this is good work. It’s important work. It’s work that makes a difference to keep our community safer,” he said. 

Wiebe’s announcement comes as the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents corrections officers in the province, raised concerns about overcrowding and understaffing in Manitoba correctional facilities. 

MGEU president Kyle Ross says inmate populations have grown over the last five years, but facility staffing numbers have remained “virtually static.”

“The reality is current staffing levels cannot keep up with the growing number of inmates,” Ross said. 

He said overcrowding has created safety issues for both staff and inmates, who have seen programming spaces converted into sleeping quarters, in some cases. 

“In some centres, we have inmates double and triple bunked. That could mean there is an inmate on a mattress on the floor with their head beside a toilet,” Ross said.

“Or that the spaces which were originally designed to be used for programming, such as a gym, are permanently converted into sleeping areas.”

“That means more inmates in spaces that were never designed to house them and fewer spaces available for programming and activities that help maintain stability inside these facilities,” he said, adding tougher conditions could make recidivism worse.

Ross said corrections officers are experiencing burnout, and fears that may only get worse with changes to Manitoba’s bail system. 

Earlier this month, the Winnipeg Police Service said its new bail compliance unit had conducted hundreds of checks since it became operational in December. Police said those checks resulted in 109 arrests and 227 arrest warrants. 

That unit is one prong of the Manitoba government’s five-point plan intended to reform Manitoba’s bail system. 

The plan also includes more tools for Crown attorneys to consider the potential impact of an offender’s release, intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies, and a community monitoring and supervision program.

“At this time we have more inmates incarcerated than we’ve ever had in this province. And in the last 10 years we’ve closed two jails,” Ross said, describing provincial facilities as “busting at the seams.” 

“If the plan is to have more people incarcerated now with bail reform, we have to find a safe way of doing that work, safe for our workers, safe for the inmates,” he said.

Wiebe said the province is working to build capacity and maximize existing space while pushing ahead on bail reform. 

“We’ve got to get people who are breaching their bail off the streets. We’ve got to make our communities safe. The capacity within our corrections system is never going to dictate the accountability that we need to show people who are out on our streets causing chaos and disrupting communities,” Wiebe said.