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| Opposition: Fix jails now |
| By Amy Smith and Davene Jeffrey |
| Published: 04/10/2009 |
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The problems with the provincial justice system now lie at Premier Rodney MacDonald’s feet, the Liberal justice critic says. "The premier himself needs to accept responsibility because he was given the opportunity to change leadership in the Justice Department and send a clear signal that these kinds of incidents were not acceptable and he chose not to do that," Michel Samson said Thursday. His comments came a day after close to 60 inmates at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth started a revolt, setting fires and threatening guards with shards of glass. Justice Minister Cecil Clarke offered his resignation last week after a string of problems in the correctional system, including the release of two prisoners by mistake late last month, but the premier refused to accept it. "The premier is now the person who should be answering questions here and not Cecil Clarke," said Mr. Samson, the MLA for Richmond. But Wade Keller, the communications director for the premier’s office, said that’s not the case. "Minister Clarke is in charge of the department," Mr. Keller said in an email Thursday. "Obviously improvements are necessary, and Minister Clarke is taking the steps to make those improvements." During a media briefing Thursday afternoon, Mr. Clarke said he spoke with the premier about Wednesday’s ruckus at the jail. "Today we are on to dealing with these matters, getting things in place, responding to issues that are coming forward and making sure that where we as a government need to and must be held to account, we are doing that," Mr. Clarke said. But NDP Leader Darrell Dexter said Nova Scotians have reached "a level of disbelief and frustration" about the problems in the correctional system. People need to know if the province has a plan to deal with the growing prisoner population. Mr. Samson said the Tories’ tough-on-crime agenda added more police to the streets but neglected correctional workers. "The government, for some reason, refuses to put in the necessary amount of manpower, so the get-tough-on-crime seems to be only an issue on the streets of Nova Scotia, not in the correctional facilities of Nova Scotia," the Liberal MLA said. But Mr. Clarke disputes claims of understaffing and lack of training. He said more people are being arrested but staffing levels have been increased. More boots on the streets sure sounds like a good plan, said Jim Gosse, president of the local of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union that represents correctional staff. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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