BC prison lights ball field for inmates

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Federal inmates at the Mountain medium-security prison at Agassiz, British Columbia, will be able to play baseball at night after Corrections Canada spends $165,000 to light the ball field.

Assistant Warden Brenda Lamm told the Vancouver Sun that the lights are necessary because the prison’s 450 prisoners are too busy in the daytime attending treatment programs or working to play baseball.

"The inmates support this," she said. "They want more access to fresh air and recreational activities.

"From our perspective, we’re in the business of helping people re-enter society. Recreation is part of that."

It’s hoped the night games can get under way by the end of March, Lamm said.

The lights will also help with security, she added, because prisoners can be put in the yard at night.

Lamm said the new lights mean the inmates, many of them sex offenders, will be able to play all year round, from 5 to 10 p.m., when they go to bed.

"This is part of the redevelopment of our institution," she said Tuesday. "It will be used year-round and we will have the ability to see them in the yard."

The lights will also illuminate a soccer field, tennis courts and a running track.

Lamm noted the Kent Institution, a federal maximum-security prison next door to Mountain, has had a lit field for several years.

A British Columbia opposition member of Parliament called the expense outrageous.

"These are not white-collar criminals who are there for tax evasion," said Grant McNally.

"These are people that have done some really terrible things and caused a lot of hurt in our communities, and to see lights put up on a ball field for them just simply does not to me seem defensible."