Winnipeg man says he wanted federal prison sentence because of better addiction supports | CBC News

A Winnipeg man living with a cocaine addiction who has previously spent time in a provincial jail is back behind bars, this time in a federal penitentiary — and that’s what he wanted.

Jason Walmsley, 34, told CBC in an interview inside the federal Stony Mountain Institution that a prison sentence — as opposed to a provincial jail sentence at Headingley Correctional Centre, where he’s served time before — will give him a better chance at staying clean after he’s released.

With a provincial jail, “when my release date comes, that’s exactly what it is — it’s a release. You get let go at the first bus stop in the west end of Winnipeg,” Walmsley said.

“I know for a fact that when I get released from this [federal] prison [and] that while I’m in this prison, the biggest concern for them is something called my correction plan.”

Walmsley was released in May 2019 from Headingley, after a nine-month sentence for crimes he committed to fuel his drug addiction.

He was sober for more than three years, but relapsed in 2022 and was arrested again last November after a series of cocaine-fuelled commercial break-ins and thefts.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February to two years in custody — a sentence that was jointly recommended by the Crown and his defence lawyer.

Normally, people sentenced to less than two years remain in provincial custody in a jail, while a sentence of two years or more is served in a federal prison.

Before he was sentenced, Walmsley made a list of pros and cons on different sentencing options his lawyer could recommend.

They included a sentence that would’ve kept him in provincial custody followed by supervised probation. While there, he could’ve accessed a drug treatment program that he’s previously attended.

He was told drug treatment court — a specialized court tailored for cases involving people with addictions — was also an option.

While the judge had the final say, Walmsley identified the place he felt he could get the best support to stay away from drugs and crime.

“The one that had the most check marks for the positives [was] Stony Mountain … which [was] baffling to me,” he said.

“How can federal prison be the best option out of all these other options?”

‘It should bother us’: prof

That’s a question society needs to ask, says Katharina Maier, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg who specializes in punishment, prisoner re-entry and drug use.

There’s research that suggests Walmsley’s preference for prison over provincial jail isn’t unique in Canada, she said.

That’s “related to both greater access to rehabilitative programs in federal prisons as compared to provincial prisons, and also better conditions in federal prisons,” said Maier.

But “it should bother us that people choose the most severe form of punishment, which is federal incarceration in Canada, as opposed to arguably a less severe form of punishment.”

More research is needed to compare conditions and re-entry supports between federal and provincial systems, she said, but added people’s experiences must be taken into account.

“It’s really important that we listen to people’s reasons why they would choose federal incarceration because that tells us something about their struggles in the community. It also tells us something about the state of our prisons,” she said.

‘Fell off the wagon’

Since his 2019 release from Headingley, Walmsley has documented his experiences in first-person essays written for CBC.

Those perspectives made him a voice on the issue of addictions, Crown attorney Sarah Murdoch told the court during Walmsley’s sentencing. 

Court heard Walsmley did “extremely well” under a previous probation order, but once it ended his troubles began.

“He fell off the wagon and then went back to some old habits,” Murdoch told the court. “It seems like Mr. Walmsley does well when he has those supports.”

But she noted his preference to go to the penitentiary, where “he feels he knows the resources that are available to him.”

Provincial court Judge Kusham Sharma told Walmsley his perspective is important.

“To have somebody like you tell us, ‘Hey, this is what it’s like … this is what I need,’ is really important for us to know what’s going to help you,” Sharma told Walmsley.

A provincial spokesperson said inmate release plans are developed on a case-by-case basis, but acknowledged that in a “low-risk” release, a Headingley inmate “can be transported to the city and … released near to where they can access public transit and would be provided with a ticket to get to their next location.”

In more complex cases, they might be transported to a treatment centre or program, the spokesperson said.

Chris Gamby with the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba said re-entering the community can be a challenge for inmates without the proper support.

“It’s sad to see someone who does very well in one of these programs, and then they get out and something happens and they end up coming back in again,” Gamby said.

Walmsley hopes he’ll get counselling for trauma and mental health in the federal system.

“That is paramount,” Walmsley said. “Being able to be released here with a plan is the literal difference between being dropped off at that bus shack and being dropped off somewhere that can help you.”