SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A scathing report of corrections services in the territory, which includes North Slave Correctional Centre, has left the Department of Justice with a lengthy to-do list.
Sylvia Haener, deputy minister of the Department of Justice, left, and Monty Bourke, NWT director of corrections, discuss the recent release of the Auditor General of Canada's report on corrections services in the NWT. - Meagan Leonard/NNSL photo |
Inmates put in segregation against proper procedure and inadequate mental health and addictions support were among the issues listed in the report by the Auditor General of Canada released Tuesday.
"We found significant deficiencies or problems in many areas, one of the key areas was that inmates were not being offered the programming that they were identified as needing before being released back into their community," said Glenn Wheeler, audit principal.
"That's an area where the department lost an opportunity or missed an opportunity to perhaps help inmates be less likely to re-offend."
The report studied the department's treatment of 48 male inmates in both North Slave and Fort Smith correctional centres. It looked at two years between 2012 and March 2014.
The lack of resources around mental health and addictions problems was of particular concern to Justice Minister David Ramsay.
"The issue with programming has been something I've had some concern with in the past," Ramsay said.
"It's something we really need to address. I told the department on numerous occasions here, we need to do something about this and we will do something. It's vitally important."
A lack of access to mental health services was reported as limited, having only one psychologist on staff at North Slave, overseeing approximately 140 inmates as well as staff. Wait times were up to three months to see the psychologist, and the position was empty for an extended period during the time of the audit.
The position at North Slave has since been filled, said Sylvia Haener, deputy justice minister.
The report showed that of seven inmates identified as needing mental health services, two received no treatment at all. Due to varying sentence lengths and how they are served - whether full-time or only on weekends - Haener said mental health and addictions programs are difficult to structure.
"The average length of stay is three months. We obviously need to do what we can for individuals when they are with us and when they are willing to engage with us in making that change because not everyone is," said Haener.
"That's a big challenge we face as well and is reflected in some of the statistics there in the report. Not everyone is willing to take the programming that we offer and we can't make them take it."
When asked what specific programming is in place, no answer was provided. Haener did say there was strong addictions programming at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, which was not a part of the audit, but inmates could be transferred there to access those services.
Haener pointed to inmate profiles - comprehensive files kept on each correctional centre occupant - as an example of the department's efforts to better understand inmates and subsequently address their needs.
The issue, Ramsay said, is one of public safety and the department is moving in the right direction.
"We need to ensure that we're working with each and every one of them to make sure they get the help they need, rehabilitation support so they don't re-offend and they don't end up back in our correctional system," said Ramsay.
Over the past two years, 18 of the inmates studied had been placed in segregation, largely at North Slave. Among those 18 cases, there were 38 reports of segregation being used, though no justification for the placement was reported in eight cases. Authorization from the warden, required for segregation, was also not granted in 20 of the placements.
In some cases, weekly reviews of whether the inmate needed to remain in segregation were not performed, despite the placements lasting between 14 and 66 days.
Monty Bourke, director of corrections, said issues with segregation have been addressed by the department.
"The procedures in place that govern their segregation are robust and in some ways they've been enhanced over the past year," said Bourke.
"At any given time I have detailed access to who's in segregation, how long they're there and under what circumstances," said Bourke.
Since the audit finished, he said there is increased oversight at the jail.
"There was an incident where it was clear that the procedures weren't followed so we took immediate steps to correct that," said Bourke, adding this was a little more than a year ago.
It couldn't be determined by press time what incident Bourke is referring to.
"In fact, the period of the audit under review is now history."
Although mandated to follow the Corrections Act and Corrections Service Regulations, Wheeler said, staff and management are not necessarily complying.
"The issue is that corrections officers, corrections staff are not consistently following those directives. It is incumbent upon senior management within the department to more closely monitor the facility's compliance with directives."
In the legislative assembly on Wednesday, Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny called the government to task on the issue. Directed at Premier Bob McLeod, Dolynny asked whether there would be an investigation into the department and personnel who have acted against the regulations.
"My concern today is not this legislative process before the house but more importantly have our own laws been breached by the department's inaction in the wake of such report findings?" Dolynny said.
McLeod did not have an immediate answer but said he would respond as soon as possible. One area where the report found protocols were not being followed was in putting inmates into segregation.
Previous reports, including an internal review by the justice department in 2008, outlined similar concerns with corrections services in the territory. During the latest audit, Wheeler said the department had complied with only one of those recommendations.
This, Ramsay said, is a concern.
"I've had that discussion with the department. A number of questions have been asked and reviews have been done," said Ramsay.
"Why hasn't the work happened? Those are legitimate questions that need to be answered and as minister, my goal and my job is to ensure that this happens."
While changes are underway - Ramsay said if the audit were done today it would look significantly different - there is no easy fix.
"It's a work-in-progress and we're going to continue to ensure these recommendations aren't just left on a shelf somewhere," said Ramsay. "We need to action these things. It's not the first time we've been told these things and it's time to clean that up and I want to ensure the public and members that this is going to be cleaned up."
- with files from Meagan Leonard
