Debates of May 26, 2005 (day 2)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I said that I wanted to follow up on more detail about the effects of the closure of the remand unit at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River. We knew that there would be a reduction in shifts available for casual employees. We knew that the number of indeterminate positions would be reduced by five if when they became vacant through attrition, and we knew that the projected savings of $400,000 was not realistic. What wasn’t quantified was the consequential effects that weren’t fully anticipated or wouldn’t be realized until the actual change in operations took place. These are the ones which we are becoming more aware of now and they are the ones that I want to talk about today.

I was assured during the budget session that the holding and transporting of inmates was not going to negatively impact RCMP detachment budgets, and I didn’t accept that then and now I’m starting to hear how this is playing out. In a detachment like Hay River, where cells might have normally been occupied for four or five days a month with the accompanying staffing on-call guards, now there’s only four or five days a month when the cells at the RCMP detachment aren’t being used for remanded persons in custody. There have been some recent arrests where there have been five people charged at one time around some well-publicized drug cases.

I’ve recently learned that these inmates being transferred on scheduled flights on commercial carriers, that there’s a rule pertaining to their transportation, and that is being that one officer cannot be responsible for more than two prisoners. This is a good and understandable rule, but one that will cost the RCMP more money to transport inmates to and from Yellowknife. I don’t believe that these additional costs paid for from detachment budgets are not going to affect the delivery of policing services at the community level, not to mention the fact that there is going to be a decreased presence of RCMP members in our community at any given time.

Another bit of feedback that has come in is how remand inmates being located in Yellowknife is affecting the JPs’ court scheduling. JPs are being pressured to plan their schedules and disposition of charges and cases around the convenience of getting the accused back and forth to Yellowknife. Now, this is not a very good way to run a justice system.

Another impact of the remand closure, that I hope and pray this government doesn't have to face, has to do with safety of prisoners who may attempt self-destructive measures while incarcerated. The staffing...

Mrs. Groenewegen, your time for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. The staffing of the remand unit in Hay River and the additional staff to watch them had everything to do with an internal report and a coroner's inquest into the suicidal death of an inmate in custody at SMCC. I don't believe that that report and the recommendations of the coroner were sufficiently considered when this cost-saving initiative was contrived by the former Minister.

I think it would be in the government's own interest to ensure that we have not inadvertently put ourselves in a situation where responsibility for, God forbid, another such incident could be directly blamed on these changes.

I would like to see the changes in remand in Hay River re-examined in view of a more rigorous analysis taking into account three things, Mr. Speaker: the recent number of inmates remanded in custody; the examination of the impacts on RCMP manpower, programs and budgets; and consultation with judges and justices of the peace south of the lake. I will be asking the Minister of Justice about this in question period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause