Bowden Institution
| Location | Innisfail, Alberta, Canada |
|---|---|
| Security class | medium security |
| Capacity | 544 |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Managed by | Correctional Services Canada |
The Bowden Institution is a medium security prison operated by Correctional Services Canada.[1] It was built on an "open campus" model. In a minimum security annex prisoners live in ordinary houses.
The facility is located on Alberta's Queen Elizabeth II Highway, near the small towns of Bowden, Alberta and Innisfail, Alberta, approximately halfway between Calgary and Edmonton.[1]
In 2006 there was a knifing at the institution.[2] Guards threatened to strike, when the knife could not be found. Linda Slobodian, writing in the Calgary Herald, wrote that the prison had once mainly held sex offenders, but the prison population had recently had a considerable contingent of violent gang members transferred there.
As of November 2012 the institution had the capacity for 544 prisoners.[1]
In February 2014 former Guantanamo captive, Omar Khadr was transferred to the institution, from the Millhaven maximum security facility.[3][4] At Bowden, unlike at Millhaven, Khadr would have programs available to him which would help him apply for parole.
References
- 1 2 3 "Bowden Institution and Annex". Correctional Services Canada. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2014-02. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ Linda Slobodian (2006-03-22). "Knifing leave prison: Bowden lockdown 2nd in a week". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-02-12.
The stabbing of an inmate has led to the second full lockdown at Bowden Institution in less than a week -- prompting guards to threaten to walk out if prisoners were let out of their cells before the weapon was found.
- ↑ Sheil Pratt (2013-12-13). "Khadr reclassified, likely to be transferred to Bowden". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
Edmonton lawyer Dennis Edney, who has represented Khadr for ten years, said the decision by the warden Kelly Hartle at the Edmonton penitentiary to reclassify Khadr from maximum designation reflects a “plethora of evidence” from U.S. authorities and Canada’s prison ombudsman that Khadr never was a maximum-security threat.
- ↑ "Former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr transferred to medium security in Alberta". Global Post. 2014-02-11. Archived from the original on 2014-02-12.
Bowden Institution is a medium-security prison with a minimum-security annex.