An inquest judge has recommended the Manitoba government provide more mental health services at the Milner Ridge Correctional Centre after an inmate took his own life in 2020.
Jordan Timothy Sutherland, 26, was found dead alone in his cell in the segregation unit after hanging himself on June 23, 2020.
“The most significant area of concern raised in this inquest is the need for more psychiatric services,” provincial court Judge Dave Mann wrote in the 21-page report.
“Several correctional officers noted the challenges of dealing with mental health issues and the assistance it would be to both the inmates and officers for them to have more psychiatric nursing staff available to assist those in custody at Milner Ridge.”
The jail is 75 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
The judge noted that one of the psychiatric nurses at the institution, who has worked there for 13 years, said “there are currently more inmates with mental illnesses, and the mental health issues are more severe than ever before.”
The nurse believed many of the inmates in segregation should be in the psychiatric hospitals, the judge wrote.
Mann made eight recommendations to prevent further deaths at the jail, including an increase to the number of hours a psychiatrist spends there, to a minimum of one full day each week from the current three and a half hours.
There should be at least five full-time equivalent psychiatric nurse positions, so that a nurse could also be available during evenings and not just during daytime hours.
He recommended an in-house psychologist be hired, at least on a part-time basis.
“The evidence was that there is one psychologist at Headingley Correctional Centre, but there does not appear to be one available at the other provincial institutions,” said Mann. “There is definitely not one at Milner Ridge.
“There is a recognized increase in mental health issues amongst incarcerated individuals in Canada and it is appropriate that all inmates have access to this resource as needed.”
Other recommendations include ensuring all correctional staff are up to date on CPR and suicide intervention training and investigating the addition of air bags to assist in administering CPR.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said he is carefully reviewing the judge’s recommendations.
“We are working with the department of health regarding long-term options for improving psychiatric services in correctional centres,” said Wiebe in a statement.
“Milner Ridge also has a plan in place to update mandatory staff training for CPR and applied suicide intervention skills training in hopes we can prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.”
Sutherland, who struggled with addictions and being homeless, was serving a 14-month sentence for various offences.
Mann said Sutherland was deemed a low suicide risk and, just eight hours before he died, he denied having suicidal thoughts.
The judge said while Sutherland was in custody, corrections staff described him as “pleasant and co-operative” as well as “non-aggressive, polite and respectful” and had good relationships with a number of officers who testified.
“It was clear that his death and the entire incident had an impact on many staff at Milner Ridge, some of whom went on leave following the tragic event.”
Aiden Enns, interim executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba, said he “heartily endorses” the judge’s recommendations.
“One can only wonder if more mental health supports would have benefited him and I would say yes,” said Enns.
“More mental health supports are needed there. The need for more support for people in custody is necessary.
“I give a thumbs-up to each of the recommendations.”
Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, said his union has been recommending increasing mental health supports for both inmates and officers.
“Manitoba correctional officers will agree wholeheartedly with each one of the recommendations put forward by the inquest judge in this matter, which recognizes the trauma and stress that are a daily part of working in this environment,” said Ross.
“It is clear, and has been echoed in the list of recommendations, that improving staffing ratios, increasing training, adding more full-time psychiatric nurses, and providing more psychiatrists and psychologists in facilities will save lives.”
Manitoba has six adult jails, including in Headingley, Brandon, The Pas and Winnipeg.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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