Alberta spending least in country on inmates [Video]

EDMONTON –

New data shows Alberta spends the lowest amount of money per inmate in Canada – a number the province says is value for money but critics label short-sighted and worrisome.

The numbers, published by Statistics Canada earlier this month, show Alberta spends $193 per day per inmate.

Saskatchewan spends $199. 

Almost every other province and territory puts in over $300.

The numbers account for costs like salaries for guards and life necessities for inmates. They apply only to correctional centres, remand centres, people in custody awaiting trial, and those serving prison sentences shorter than two years.

The numbers are for 2022-23 and Statistics Canada, in its online report, says inferences “should be made with caution” given some provinces may calculate their overall expenditures differently.

But former prison watchdog Howard Sapers says the Alberta gap compared with other provinces is too big to be dismissed out of hand as just accounting and infrastructure.

Sapers …