PC CAUCUS--Justice woes hurting public safety--Op-Ed
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NOTE: The following is an op-ed piece by PC Justice critic Murray Scott.
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As a former justice minister and police officer, I have had the opportunity to see all aspects of the justice system. I believe we have one of the best justice systems in the country with hard-working Nova Scotians dedicated to the effective administration of justice and public safety. I am, however, deeply troubled by the actions and decisions of the NDP government under Premier Darrell Dexter and Justice Minister Ross Landry.
Since June 2009, the province has seen the elimination of the Boots on the Street program; the cancellation of the two new correctional facilities in Antigonish and Springhill; cuts to sheriff positions across the province; questionable releases of dangerous offenders from court houses; and more problems within the Burnside Correctional Facility. This has all occurred in the span of 13 months, under the watch of Darrell Dexter and Ross Landry.
The NDP were the Official Opposition for more than 12 years, and during that time they openly criticized, often without foundation or credible support, the way we operated the justice system.
The NDP now own the keys to that system, which means they should have all of the answers to the issues they vehemently criticized the former government about. If the past year is any indication of where our system is headed, I would suggest the NDP open their 12-year-old vault and start solving the issues they seemed to have so much knowledge of.
I am not seeing any real changes to our system under the direction of the NDP. In fact, I would argue that in one-year, we have taken a step backward.
What happened to the Boots on the Street program? Our goal was to add 250 provincially funded police officers to Nova Scotia streets by 2010. We were on target to meet that goal with 180 police officers hired and more expected to be hired after the 2009-10 budget. Giving credit where it is due, the NDP kept the 2009 officer commitment; however, they later informed police agencies that no officers would be hired in 2010, therefore killing the plan. In fact, there may even be claw backs of positions through attrition.
These officers were needed then and are needed now to tackle drugs, weed out organized crime, and reduce street crime.
As a member of the former government, I can say with all sincerity that we made great strides in making Nova Scotia a safer place to live. Like any other government, we faced some challenges in our justice system, but we always worked to rectify the situation with innovative solutions. We never compromised public safety, and we always sought to make our system stronger.
Over the past year, there has been much talk in the media and communities across the province about the correctional facility issue. Contrary to the Premier’s assertion that the Springhill correctional facility decision was made for political reasons, I would like to point out some of the natural and geographical benefits of locating the jail in Springhill.
First, it was a natural fit in Springhill because of land donated to the province from the Town of Springhill. Second, the new jail was scheduled to be located adjacent to the federal institution, which would have allowed us to form a cost saving partnership with the federal government to share services and training between the facilities. Third, having access to geo-thermal heating through Springhill’s warm, coal mine water would have saved tens of thousands of dollars per year in heating through green technology use. And finally, the close proximity to emergency police, fire, and hospital services was a strategic infrastructure advantage for the jail.
Documents obtained through Freedom of Information show that the cost for the jail was budgeted at $18 million over two years, with $12 million in 2009-2010 and $6 million in 2010-2011. More importantly, the NDP guaranteed that the facility would remain in Cumberland County.
So where are we now?
Cumberland County will lose secure jobs in rural Nova Scotia, the $1 million already spent on design and geo-technical work has been wasted, and the government will build one jail at two-thirds of the capacity just outside of the justice minister’s constituency. In fact, when we made a Freedom of Information request asking for the business case of the new facility, it was stopped by the NDP government. What are they hiding?
The other issue which deeply concerns me is the cutback of deputy sheriff hours. Inmates are escorted from jails to court houses by sheriffs everyday. I acknowledge that there have been incidents in the past where inmates have been accidentally released or escaped from custody. As a result of those incidents, our government took action and hired more sheriffs, improved training and upgraded equipment for both sheriff and correctional services.
Two weeks ago, media reported an altercation between inmates traveling to the Central Nova Correctional facility in Dartmouth. More than 10 sheriffs were needed to quell the violence, yet this government continues to stand by its decision to cut deputy sheriff hours.
Fewer sheriffs will now be available to transport an increasing amount of criminals from jails to court rooms, adding pressure on municipal police and RCMP officers, which ultimately puts public safety at risk.
To say that justice stakeholders are disappointed is an understatement. I have spoken with many of them, and they are confused about the NDPs lack of direction when it comes to public safety and the effective administration of justice. The decisions made by this government, and lack of direction to support them, concerns me. I pledge, along with my PC Caucus colleagues, to work in the best interest of our province as it is our strong belief that we all have a right to live in our communities safely, and more importantly, without fear.
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Michael Kydd
Public Relations Advisor
Office of the Leader - PC Caucus
902.424.4996 (o)
902.237.1965 (bb)
kyddma@gov.ns.ca
