Medicine Hat,
Alberta,
Canada
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Left our motel at 7.30am and started making our way to Drumheller - a town about two hours north of Calgary. Originally the town's commercial interests centered around the coal industry, however when that petered out, the federal government decided to put a prison there so that the town wouldn't close down. Now the prison and the oil industry are the major employers. We got to the prison at 9.15 for our appointment and were surprised to find that it was in lockdown. Apparently there had been a riot in Edmonton prison a few days previously and this always sparks a reaction in Drumheller. So things were quiet but in a way that was good because we got to ask lots of questions and see things that normally we would not be able to see if there were prisoners everywhere. Seems that prisons all over are suffering the same fate - too few spaces for the number of prisoners. Excellent tour, discovered that the Canadian prisons do not regard vocational training for inmates as being a priority, they place more emphasis on rehabilitative programs, eg. Anger management, drug and alcohol etc. they do however mandate that inmates without a high school diploma are required to study for one before they can gain any form of employment whilst incarcerated. Wages for inmates similar to NSW, and inmates do similar work but gain no formal training or qualification. Staff seem to think that the federal government will begin pushing the employment option more strongly. Interesting discussion with a staff member from programs, who referred to the recruitment process as a competition and ongoing discussions with the executive assistance of the warden confirmed, that in Canada recruitment is referred to as a competition, and I guess in a way that is exactly what it is, competing for a position. Programs staff do not require any discipline qualifications they only need experience in a social field setting. Also learnt, that across the nation smoking has been banned from the prisons which includes staff.
These officers really gave us the royal treatment. Apparently they arranged the previous day for a real good spit and polish of the prison because they knew we were coming and officers had been instructed to be prepared for us in the units. It was fantastic!
Left the prison around 12.30pm and went into Drumheller for lunch. After lunch went for a drive to the 'Last Chance Saloon' at Wayne. This included crossing 11 small bridges which have made it into the Guinness book of records the most number of bridge crossings in the shortest distance! Good to be part of a historical event! Got to the pub, and who do we run into but an Australian couple - she is a primary school teacher on an exchange in Manitoba and so she and her husband were taking advantage of the summer holidays for some touring. They are off to Alaska so we gave them plenty of tips for their journey. Left Wayne and started making our way down to Medicine Hat to spend the night. Once again a huge water slide in the hotel - a little too exposed for us to subject our bodies to the rooms overlooking the pool area!
