Alberta Fact Check: What will happen to federal prisons if Alberta becomes independent?
When sentences end during the transition period to independence, released convicts would likely be sent to their province of origin. Arrangements would have to be made to shift inmates with longer sentences to facilities within their original provinces.
If Alberta chooses to become independent, what happens to federal prisons and inmates who reside on different sides of provincial boundaries? There has been much discussion around federally managed lands such as national parks and military bases, but we rarely address prisons.
Alberta has seven federal correctional facilities within it, holding up to 2,500 inmates coming from all regions. Across the country, there are over 14,000 inmates. Many of whom are Albertan citizens being held in other provinces.
The 1993 dissolution of Czechoslovakia covered much of this ground and offers a likely model.
Immovable assets (including prisons and related infrastructure) generally went to the successor state in whose territory they were located. Czech-territory prisons became Czech; Slovak-territory prisons became Slovak. The same would happen in Canada. Having a foreign-administered correctional facility in Alberta would be unreasonable. The prisons would be one of many hard assets to consider during secession negotiations.
The disposition of inmates could be a little more complicated. Would inmates from provinces outside of Alberta but housed in Albertan prisons be considered Alberta citizens now? Would inmates from Alberta in federal facilities outside of the province be considered Albertan citizens after the dissolution of the federation?
Both Canada and Alberta likely would be happy if their convicts remained outside of their borders, but that’s not reasonable.
When sentences end during the transition period to independence, released convicts would likely be sent to their province of origin. Arrangements would have to be made to shift inmates with longer sentences to facilities within their original provinces.
This would be relatively easy during the period before the province becomes fully independent. Post-independence, though, it could become sticky if the new state has a different criminal code.
The disposition of inmates and prisoners when a province becomes independent isn’t a top-of-mind issue, but it illustrates the complexity of independence and some of the many variables to be dealt with.
The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia demonstrates that all of these issues can be resolved peacefully with careful planning.
Cory Morgan
Cory Morgan is an Alberta-based columnist, political commentator, and longtime advocate for Western Canadian independence. He is the author of the recently updated book The Sovereigntist’s Handbook, a grassroots guide for independence supporters and political activists.
http://sovereigntistshandbook.com/
