N.B. ditched plan to build new jail in Fredericton, despite warnings from deputy minister

The New Brunswick government abandoned plans to build a new jail at a site in Fredericton, despite warnings from the deputy minister of justice and public safety that building outside the city would cost more and put inmates further from addiction and mental health services.

Those concerns echoed warnings from staff in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure that the original site in Fredericton's Vanier Industrial Park area was the only suitable location identified, according to emails reviewed by CBC.

"Do you need an articulation of the downsides to a decision to abandon the selected site and the agreement with the city and go looking for another site, on that list or elsewhere?" Mike Comeau, the deputy minister of justice and public safety, wrote on March 4.

"Specific to the project: there is no site that better meets the needs. Every other site identified is inferior on one or more criteria."

Comeau's email was sent to Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, then-Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jeff Carr and the deputy minister of transportation and infrastructure, Rob Taylor.

A location further from downtown Fredericton would mean "less access to services, more transportation cost, more carbon footprint, and more risk of escape [or] road incident," Comeau noted in the emails.

Despite Comeau's comments, the Department of Justice and Public Safety announced in May that it wouldn't build the jail in Fredericton, citing "concerns raised by the public who live close to the proposed location" as the reason for reversing course.

The department didn't explain why the province waited until after Fredericton council had already made the contentious decision to rezone land for the jail to decide it wouldn't build there.

The province has since announced it will build the jail in Minto, which is in Austin's riding.

The Minto site is about 55 kilometres from downtown Fredericton. The original Fredericton location is about 10 kilometres from downtown.

CBC filed a right to information request to the Department of Justice and Public Safety for records about how the minister reached the decision to abandon the Fredericton jail site.

The department told CBC it "failed to retrieve any records relevant to your request."

But it's not because records on the topic don't exist. A separate request to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure uncovered numerous emails back and forth between senior officials in the transportation and public safety departments, leading up to the province's announcement that it would abandon the Fredericton site.

The plan to build a $32-million provincial jail in the Fredericton area was first announced in December 2021, with then-Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming saying the correctional system was "stretched." Since taking over the portfolio in October 2022, Austin has been steadfast on the need for the jail, citing rising crime.