A convicted criminal serving his nearly eight-year sentence escaped from Edmonton’s Stan Daniels Healing Centre.
Evin Sayer is the fifth inmate to escape the detention facility this year. He is serving a sentence of seven years, 11 months, and one day for reckless use of firearms, obstructing a peace officer, and assault causing bodily harm, among other charges.
“In the current fiscal year, there have been three escapees from Stan Daniels Healing Centre, with one of those offenders having already been apprehended,” a spokesperson for Correctional Service Canada told True North.
The government’s fiscal year begins on Apr. 1. CTV News previously reported that four people had escaped by the end of May 2024, with two escaping in January and February, prior to the fiscal year beginning.
According to Correctional Service Canada, Sayer had a total of 14 charges, including three counts of failure to comply with conditions
The Stan Daniels Healing Centre is a Section 81 facility operated by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta. These facilities are specifically used to house some Indigenous inmates where they can be offered “culturally appropriate services and programs to offenders in a way that incorporates Indigenous values, traditions and beliefs,” the correctional service says.
Correctional Service Canada told True North that it routinely assesses all inmates to ensure they are assigned to the appropriate security levels, with only those deemed to pose a low risk to public safety being placed in minimum-security institutions.
“We are working closely with the police to ensure that they have all the information necessary to apprehend these offenders and return them to our custody,” said the department spokesperson. “When an escape occurs, CSC thoroughly examines the circumstances of the incident with the assistance of local police and actively works with them to locate the inmate as quickly as possible.”
Edmonton Police Service referred True North to the federal agency as the one “ultimately responsible to speak to an inmate who has escaped their custody.”
True North reached out to the Native Counselling Services of Alberta but received no response.
Stan Daniels Healing Centre’s website lists the requirements for inmates to transfer to the centre.
Conditionally released and federally sentenced Indigenous inmates can transfer after receiving an “Elder Review,” submitting a letter to the centre through their parole officer and conducting an in-person, video, or telephone interview.
Residents are encouraged to participate in ceremonies, such as a sweat lodge and round dances. The healing centre includes common rooms, program rooms, a ceremonial room, a dining area, a hobby room, and a weight room.
A warrant for Sayer’s arrest is active. Anyone with information on Sayer is urged to contact Edmonton Police Service, Edmonton Crime Stoppers, or submit their tip online.