PROVINCIAL BUDGET PROVIDES FOR CAPITAL EXPANSION OF PRINCE ALBERT PROVINCIAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Corrections, Public Safety and Policing will see $12.6 million from the 2013 Provincial Budget allocated to complete expansion projects for the two provincial correctional facilities in Prince Albert.

"The ministry takes the safety of staff, inmates, visitors and the public seriously," Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister D.F. (Yogi) Huyghebaert said. "Overcrowding conditions combined with aging physical structures and outdated design has the potential to compromise these safety objectives."

The Prince Albert Provincial Correctional Centre for men will see a three-year $24 million capital project to build a two-storey, 72-cell secure living unit, with double-bunking capacity of up to 144 beds. Construction funding for 2012-13 is $3.0 million.

The Pine Grove Provincial Correctional Centre, the only correctional centre for women in the province, receives $ 9.6 million to continue construction of a new 30-cell living unit with double-bunking capacity of up to 60 beds. The two-year capital project commenced last fall, at a total cost of $12 million.

"These projects are an important step in addressing overcrowding pressures in the provincial correctional system," Huyghebaert said. "I have already witnessed great progress on the Pine Grove addition and I look forward to seeing shovels in the ground at the Prince Albert Provincial Correctional Centre."

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For more information, contact:

Judy Orthner
Corrections, Pubilc Safety and Policing
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5883
Email: judy.orthner@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-787-5883