Province didn't do analysis of corrections system before deciding to build Fredericton-area jail, records show
CBC
The province didn't do any kind of detailed analysis to map out the future of corrections in New Brunswick before announcing plans to build a new jail in the Fredericton region, according to records reviewed by CBC News.
In 40 pages of records turned over by the Department of Justice and Public Safety after an eight-month access-to-information battle, there's no report assessing the business case for building a new Fredericton-region jail, including how much it might cost to operate, or any assessment of how much space the correctional system might need in the future.
The province plans to build a 109-bed, $42-million provincial jail in Grand Lake.
CBC filed a right-to-information request to the department last August, asking for records that discuss the need for the new jail.
The department initially refused to provide any records to CBC, and wouldn't share the records with the ombud for her review, claiming all the records are confidential cabinet documents. The province later reversed course on keeping the records from the ombud, and eventually released some records to CBC.
An ombud investigation into the government's refusal to provide records is ongoing.
In 2008, before the province built new jails in Shediac and Dalhousie, the province hired a consultant to examine needs in the correctional system and report on how the system should look in the future.
The 86-page document, Building Hope: Toward a Renewed Vision of New Brunswick Corrections, concluded the province needed more space in the system to ease overcrowding. Soon after, the province announced new jails in Shediac and Dalhousie to replace older, smaller facilities.
But the report also warned that research showed "custody use alone was not effective in reducing re-offending or repeated returns to jail by inmates," since most people in the system are dealing with both addiction and mental health issues.
"New Brunswick should reduce or end the criminalization and use of jail custody for citizens with mental illness and addictions issues," the report recommended.
More than a decade later, as New Brunswick contemplated building a new jail in the Fredericton region, it doesn't appear the provincial government conducted a similar in-depth analysis of the system like it did in 2008.
The department also didn't consider the 2008 report before deciding to build a new jail in the Fredericton area.
A written statement from the Department of Justice and Public Safety says it focused on evidence from 2021 onward, along with costs from previous correctional construction projects, when making the decision. It also says the 2008 report would be in the archives now.
"We can confirm that, in assessing needs in 2021, department officials did not search the Provincial Archives for historical documents," spokesperson Coreen Enos wrote.