Money budgeted for planning of new penitentiary — but will it ever happen?
Her Majesty's Penitentiary often overcrowded, centre of increasing violence and drug use
The provincial government has budgeted money toward the planning of a replacement for Her Majesty's Penitentiary.
Sound familiar?
In 2014, the government of the day and then-justice minister Darin King hired an architectural firm to draft a design plan and location recommendation for a new building.
Parkin Architects, a Canadian company with offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, was awarded a contact worth approximately $235,000.
But the project never came to fruition, and the prison remains today as it was then.
The original stone structure of HMP dates back to 1859. The most recent section of the facility were built in the early 1980s.
The facility houses both federal and provincial prisoners, with the capacity for 175 inmates.
$300K in the budget
Efforts to get the federal government onboard to help fund a new prison have been long, drawn-out and fruitless.
Governments past and present have long been criticized for the condition and age of the facility, and the effect that has on staff and inmates.
We have to do a re-analysis of what our needs are today, compared to what they were then.- Andrew Parsons
Current Justice and Public Safety Minister Andrew Parsons said too much time has passed since the last plan was made, and the province now has to go back to the drawing board.
The province has earmarked $300,000 for the project.
"We know we have a very high prison population. The numbers are continuing to go up," Parsons said in an interview Wednesday.
"We have to do a re-analysis of what our needs are today, compared to what they were then."
Possibility of P3
Parsons cautioned the province still has to operate within its own fiscal reality, adding the department hasn't committed to anything yet.
The review will look at the best value for the province's money, which could mean public-private partnerships.
No company has been chosen yet to do the planning work, said Parsons.
"I'd like to see it done, but we need to see what the scope is going to be, what the cost is going to be and what our needs are," he said.
"We all know what the challenges are and we need to stick to the plan that we're on."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
