Yellowknife (Oct 29/04) - Less than six months after the North Slave Correctional Centre opened, promising a new approach to incarceration, guards say working conditions are unsafe, overtime hours are "horrendous" and management has silenced critical employees.

"Before we have a death, we need changes," said a former corrections officer, who lost his job in January 2004 after making a racial remark after four years on the job.

The guard, who never worked at North Slave, said procedures began to change during his tenure at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre. The guard said he keeps in close contact with current staff.

"Officers are being put on the line," said the former guard, who requested anonymity. "All of the policies in place are (designed) to protect the inmates."

The complaints come two weeks after it was revealed the territorial finance department still owes $1 million in back pay to about two dozen corrections officers nine months after the government was ordered to pay up.

Complete with a healing room featuring natural rock outcroppings, spacious common areas and sweeping windows with a view of Kam Lake, the jail promised a "holistic" approach to incarceration.

"Corrections has evolved," said Justice Minister Charles Dent in March. "It allows for more direct supervision and interaction between employees and offenders."

Prison guards say the new approach isn't working.

A long-time corrections officer, who said he spoke on behalf of several others and asked that his name not be used because he feared he would lose his job, estimated the number of assaults on employees has increased 300 per cent in the last six months.

"Guards are being yelled at, spit on and assaulted," he said.

Last week, an inmate bit an officer on the arm. The officer had to undergo a battery of tests and was required to take anti-HIV medication, the guard said.

"You would never have seen that before."

The former guard said prisoners act with impunity because a lack of internal discipline fostered by the department's emphasis on healing.

"There are no repercussions. Management believes the inmates instead of the officers. They can do pretty much what they want."

Inmates now caught smoking pot face a $25 fine instead of, potentially, time in solitary confinement. Other sanctions, including the loss of privileges and extra work hours, are not being used as frequently, he charged.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said a system of "progressive" internal discipline is in place. Inmates, corrections officers and supervisors first discuss problem behaviour and attempt to reconcile differences.

If the mediation is ineffective, the inmate can still face charges in the Warden's Court -- a formal disciplinary hearing within the jail -- or Criminal Code charges.

"There is less emphasis on security and more emphasis on (behaviour) modification," Dent told Yellowknifer Wednesday. "It's a new approach. Not everybody is comfortable with that.

"It can be safe. It is a model that has been tried elsewhere."

Overtime hours

The current guard said it's routine for officers to work double shifts -- up to 16 hours per day -- to make up for staff shortages.

"It's horrible. You go into work and you are never sure when you'll be allowed to leave."

According to numbers provided by the Justice Department, $243,000 was spent on overtime during the past four months, compared with $216,000 for the previous 12 months.

Staff shortages are the main reason for the extra overtime pay. The guards say they need another 15 corrections officers. Dent said the centre is only seven to 10 officers short of a full complement.

"Ideally, we wouldn't have any overtime," said Dent. "We're getting there."

The current corrections officer said physical confrontations, long hours and arbitrary staffing decisions have led employees to take stress leave, which costs the government hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

"On an average day, four or five employees will call in sick," the guard said of the total compliment of roughly 50 corrections officers. "You can't operate a jail like that."

Dent declined to comment on the elevated number of sick days, saying that was confidential medical information.

In the Legislative Assembly, Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee said between 20 and 30 staff members have resigned during the last 10 months due to working conditions at the jail.

Despite the seriousness of the problems, management at the jail was not open to suggestions and criticisms from employees, the guards charged.

"If you say anything you are gone," said the former guard.

Criticized security procedures

Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay said he receives calls from jail guards almost every day. In the legislature, Ramsay accused upper management of targeting vocal employees who criticized security procedures, training methods and overtime hours.

"(There is) some concern among employees at the North Slave Correctional Centre that management does indeed have a list of targeted employees... that they have singled out and that they are going after," Ramsay said during question period Oct. 22.

Dent said there is no such list and that employees are free to voice their concerns.

The current guard said staff decisions were often made arbitrarily and most of the workers -- who were on casual and term contracts -- had no recourse.

"There is no accountability," the guard said.

The department of public works is conducting a full-scale review into human resource practices at the jail.

"We recognize there are some concerns," Dent said. "We believe the report will help us address those issues."

MLA Dave Ramsay said the report was long overdue. "I haven't run into a happy employee yet."