Some Edmonton Remand Centre inmates locked up more than 20 hours a day, government says

Some inmates at the Edmonton Remand Centreare being locked up for all but three and a halfhours aday, according to the provincial government.

Inmate Adrian Barnes is one of them, andsaidpeople getfrustrated and bored while locked up in their cells.

"When they come out of their cells, they're angry," Barnes said."You get people upset about that and it becomes a hostile environment."

Experts saidthat can cause problems. Doug King, a justice studies professorat Mount Royal University in Calgary,saidinmates need to be kept busy.

"It's a well-known argument that if you minimize what people in custody can do with their time, you actually lay conditions for negative consequences that can flow from that," he said.

"There's internal violence, putting guards at risk, putting other people incarcerated at risk, and nurses and doctors who work in there are at risk."

Both correctional officers and inmates haveraised concerns about tension in the prison overthe last month.

Guards staged a lockdown in December afterthey sufferedfrequent attacks from the centre's inmates.

• Agreement reached in lockdown of Edmonton Remand Centre

As a result of the concerns, thegovernment decided to bring in "an existing 'tiering' program."

The tiering program is a rotation that lets inmates out in groups, with the number of inmates in eachgroup, and the time they're released from their cells, staggered throughout the day.

The province confirmed in a statement that the amount of time an inmate is out of their cell can range from three and a halfto 11 hours aday.

"Time spent outside of cells is based on several factors, such as security level of the unit and inmate behaviour,"the statement said.

Earlier this month, inmates staged a hunger strike to protesttheir treatmentatthe Edmonton Remand Centre.

• Inmates at Edmonton Remand Centre on hunger strike to protest treatment
• Province looking into excessive force allegations at Edmonton Remand Centre
• Inmates on hunger strike at Edmonton jail segregated for 'non-compliance,' province says

The province saidinmates wanted more time out of their cells, but three inmates told CBC News they were protesting because of alleged brutality at the hands of guards.

Inmates want more books,educational courses

A few weeks after the hunger strike, tensions remainhigh at the centre, saidinmate Luqman Osman.

Inmates want access to more books and more educational classes, he said.

Giving us more things to be productive and to follow educational pursuits would prepare us, socialize us and allow us to come out back into society and function.- Adrian Barnes, inmate

Barnes agreed,and saidmany inmateswould benefit from the additional resources.

"Giving us more television, giving us TVs in our cells, giving us more things to be productive and to follow educational pursuits would prepare us, socialize us and allow us to come out back into society and function," he said.

The Edmonton Remand Centre has several amenities for inmates, including 41 fresh air spaces, 60 TVs, in-cell radios and boot campfitness classes offered to some prisoners, said a government spokesperson. Indigenous programming and library programs are also available.

The government also recently started circulating 16 tablets in the Edmonton Remand Centre for inmates as part of a pilot project.

King said he recognizes that many peopleare opposed to giving inmatesmore access to certain resources. But he saidit's important to remember that many of the inmates at the Edmonton Remand Centrehaven't been convicted yet,and are still entitled to certain freedoms.

"They're still innocent until proven guilty," he said."I think we need to understand that we shouldn't begin the punishment phase until they have been found guilty of an offence."