Regina inmates end hunger strike; government promises high-quality food
Cooking skills program on hold, never cancelled: Ministry of Justice
After staging what they called a hunger strike on Saturday, inmates at Regina's correctional centre ended their strike on Tuesday evening, and began eating food again.
On Saturday, Forrest Pelletier, who had initiated a hunger strike in March, instigated Saturday's strike in protest of what he and other inmates considered food from a seriously inadequate quality.
He said the food that's served to prisoners sometimes contains expired food or meat that's not cooked enough.
On Tuesday, Pelletier said that after negotiations with prison authorities, prisoners were told they would receive better quality food and a larger quantity of food.
He also noted that a cooking job skills program will be put back into place.
Drew Wilby, who is the executive director of corporate affairs with the Ministry of Justice, Corrections and Policing, confirmed that "all offenders chose to eat their supper meal."
In a different account of events, he noted that, "We did not negotiate with the offenders. A discussion was had."
"None of the demands that the offenders put forward were met and the government is committed to providing high-quality food at the correctional facility."
When asked why the offenders decided to end their hunger strike, he said he wasn't sure why.
Of the cooking skills program, Wilby said it was never cancelled. He said it was on hold, and that it was always part of the contract with the food provider, Compass Group Canada. He said it will be put back in place, as planned, at some point.
Wilby also said "the government is focused on making sure that Compass provides a consistent, high quality meal to all inmates," noting there was a bad instance of food on Saturday, and that the food quality has since increased.
They'll continue to monitor it.