Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I mentioned the North Slave Correctional Complex Inmates and the rehabilitation of the inmates and the services and programs provided to the inmates. My first question to the Minister of Justice is: can the Minister tell what steps have been taken to address the concerns raised by inmates in their letter-writing campaign of last October? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Justice.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. There were a number of concerns raised in the letters which we received in October. They covered quite a range of topics, including programming available, access to outdoor recreation areas, use of space within the facility, access to a law library, cost of phone calls, and staffing issues.
I want to assure this House that these concerns have been taken seriously. Within each of our correctional facilities, there is a process in place for addressing inmate concerns when the management of the facility meets with the inmate advisory committee on a monthly basis, hopefully to resolve the issues that have been brought forward. Since October, these monthly meetings have been continued and I understand that the last meeting of the inmate advisory committee was held on January 24th this year. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. I noticed that there was a reference made to the programming. Can the Minister provide some examples of the types of programming that is available to the inmates of the North Slave Correctional Centre?
Within all of our facilities, we have a number of programming opportunities available to inmates. That's true both here and in the facilities outside Yellowknife. They are constantly looking at and evaluating programs and rolling out new ones. They have recently enhanced the programs to deal with those inmates that have short sentences. They are set up on a modular basis so they can be continued outside of the facility.
To give you some idea of some of the programs that we are offering, they are the following: high school exam preparation, trades exam preparation, assistance with pursuing and registration into post-secondary courses by outside institutions, offering embedded essential skills training, Northern Leadership Program, and Starting Role In Business. There are quite a number of programs that are being offered. These programs are being constantly upgraded and changed as needs change.
One of the concerns raised to me a number of times by constituents who are unfortunately in the institution: can the Minister update the House on when inmates will be once again able to access the outdoor recreational facility? I understand there was quite a large investment made in that piece of property.
Yes, the member is correct that access to the outdoor recreation has been restricted since the incident of our inmate escape in August of 2016. In the interim, the traditional liaison counsellor has been continuing programming in the indoor culture room and areas within the facility designated for this purpose.
As I previously mentioned in this House, there were some complications in the procurement process that required the department to look at alternatives. The problem was that the bids came in at a figure far in excess of what we were expecting, so I can't speak publicly about the security enhancements, but I am hopeful that soon that work will be completed. I'm hoping that will be resolved by this spring so that area of the facility can be used again by the inmates.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My last question is related to the staffing of the program or the facility. On the issue of staffing, can the Minister also tell us what steps have been taken to address the concerns raised by the staff of the North Slave Correctional Centre? Mahsi.
Yes, the Member opposite is quite correct. There were concerns raised by the staff. There were a number of concerns, including staffing and safety at the facility. I can assure you that these concerns are important to the staff and that safety is paramount among those concerns.
Management at the North Slave Correctional Centre has been conducting regular occupational health and safety meetings and joint consultation meetings with the staff. In addition, they have met with the union or the workers about these same concerns. Stemming and arising from these meetings, several things have been done: improved communication whereby staff have better access to meeting minutes and are involved in changes to policies and standing operating procedures, orientation for supervising inmate recreational activities. In 2017, training in the area of de-escalation techniques, violence prevention, and responsibility surrounding the use of force was delivered through the Corrections Northern Recruitment Training Program to new recruits. Planned training in the areas of crisis negotiations and rectifications, those are among the programs that we have instituted or are being continued at the facility to improve conditions that have been raised quite properly by both the inmates and staff. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
