Lockdown lifted, visiting hours resume at Sask. Pen

Routine is slowly returning at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary after a riot earlier this month left one inmate dead and eight more injured.

Correctional Service Canada spokesperson Jeff Campbell confirmed the prison-wide lockdown was lifted late last week.

The prison’s minimum-security unit resumed its normal operations late in the evening of Dec. 22, Campbell said, while the medium and maximum-security inmates were placed onto a modified routine.

Campbell said the higher-security inmates are now allowed to shower and make phone calls, but their movement within the rest of the prison is restricted.

“Since they’ve moved to modified routine, visits are on, but of course pre-booking of visits is still required,” Campbell said. “The medium and the maximum-security units are not operating on normal routine yet, but it’s a step towards that.”

Campbell confirmed prisoners have been transferred out of the federal facility since the riot, which caused significant damage to a large portion of the medium-security unit, but could not say how many inmates were transferred or where.

Due to the ongoing investigation, Campbell said he couldn’t comment on the extent of the damage within the penitentiary, or speculate when the prison will return to normal operations.