Report says food quality, portions, triggers in Saskatchewan Penitentiary riot
OTTAWA — A report from Canada’s correctional ombudsman says a deadly riot at Saskatchewan Penitentiary last year was likely sparked by disputes over food and small prison cells.
Ivan Zinger released his annual report on Canadian prisons on Tuesday and said the riot on Dec. 14, 2016, in the medium-security unit of the prison was probably triggered by unresolved complaints over food quality, portion size and lack of protein.
“Current research suggests that a lot must go wrong, and for quite some time, before a prison erupts in violence,” Zinger wrote.
“Such a perspective implies that prison administrators have opportunity and warning to address precipitating factors and thereby prevent a full-fledged riot from occurring in the first place. In other words, prison riots are not random or inevitable events.”