Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions today for the Minister of Justice. I wanted to ask him about smoking by employees at the North Slave Correctional Centre. Obviously being a corrections guard is a very stressful occupation, Mr. Speaker. A year ago they did away with smoking at that facility and now, if you are a corrections guard, you can’t smoke on the property at all, even though shifts are eight hours in duration and sometimes folks work double shifts. But other staff are allowed to smoke. If you look downtown, other government employees are allowed to just simply go outside and smoke. I am wondering, I guess, why it is that we are treating corrections guards differently than we treat other government employees. I would like to ask the Justice Minister why that is the case. Why are corrections guards not allowed to smoke outside in a designated area by that correctional facility?
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we talk about staff, they have different professions. We have security guards there that monitor the inmates on a constant basis. They are required to be at the centre. We have other staff that may come and go, such as secretaries or clerical or administrative. They go downtown and do their lunch and they may come back. They may pick up a smell of smoke to some degree. Mr. Speaker, those securities need to be at the corrections. That is a big difference where they are required to be at the centre. We don’t allow smoking at the centre, as well, on the premises. Mr. Speaker, this is a safety and also the health reason for our inmates as well and also the staff at the corrections. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I will just correct the Minister; they are not security guards, they are corrections officers. Mr. Speaker, I think we need to be treating our corrections officers in the same way that we treat other government employees. I know that they are there. They are captive employees for the period of time they are at the centre. Why is it that we can’t come up with a solution? Maybe it is a little ways away from the building, but a designated smoking area outside for use for employees, the corrections guards specifically that can’t leave that building, they can’t have a cigarette if they so choose on the premises outside of the building. Why is that not the case? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, these corrections officers need to be at the centre. They are required to monitor and also look after those inmates in case there are any issues that may arise. There is a constant issue that may be conducted at the centre as well. They are required to be there. Other staff may come and go, as I indicated before, administrative staff, but at the same time, these corrections officers need to be at the centre. That is a big difference. They can’t leave the premises to go for, let’s say, a smoke outside the premises because they are on duty eight, 10, 12 hours as identified by their supervisors or regular work hours. Mr. Speaker, we have to keep that in mind that those are the corrections officers that are required to be at the centre. That is the reason why there is a big difference between administrative staff and corrections officers. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is making a good case for my argument. They can’t leave the facility. That is the problem. They can’t go on a coffee break downtown. They can’t go on a lunch hour downtown or to their home to have a cigarette. They are captive employees. They are at that building for eight and sometimes 16 hours in a row. I just want to ask the Minister why can’t we set up an area on the property away from the building where, if corrections officers have a short break, they can have a cigarette. It is a stressful occupation at the best of times, Mr. Speaker. Why can’t we accommodate those folks that wish to have a cigarette? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, again, it comes down to a health hazard to the inmates. The corrections officers, when they go for, let’s say they are allowed to go for a smoke, they come back and deal on a constant basis with the inmates one to one. They are always with the inmates. Second-hand smoke is even worse. That is what we have heard over and over through health discussions. Mr. Speaker, that is the very reason why we have stopped smoking at corrections premises. That is the very reason why we are not allowing those individuals that are on guard with doing their job and looking after those inmates. Mr. Speaker, it is about health issues as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The corrections officers aren’t the ones that are locked up. They are there working. They are doing their job. They are performing a function, looking after the inmates that are there. It’s the inmates that are locked up, not the corrections guards.
Again, I haven’t heard an answer from the Minister on whether or not the Department of Justice can try to address that issue that’s at the North Slave Correctional Centre in that... It’s close to 50 percent of the corrections officers in that facility that are smokers. They’d like to have an area where they can have a cigarette, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
This is an area of concern if the number is correct. We have to work with those inmates. Those corrections officers, again, they work closely with the inmates. We have to keep in mind the health hazard they may impose on those inmates, not only inmates but other staff members that do not smoke. Mr. Speaker, that’s the very reason why we don’t allow smoking on the premises due to health hazards. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
