The Union of Northern Workers has criticized what it says is uncertainty around Fort Smith jail employees’ future with the facility set to close in the months ahead.
Employees’ prospects at the town’s men’s jail were also raised at the legislature this week, as the GNWT appeared to decide it will close the jail after a brief reprieve.
In May, the NWT government announced it would close the Fort Smith Correctional Complex on the grounds that there were not enough inmates to justify keeping the facility running.
An estimated $2.7 million would be saved, the territory said as it published its draft budget. However, the GNWT later reversed course and found the money to keep the jail open.
Now, that temporary stay looks to be coming to an end – and Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said this week he is concerned about what happens next. (Jay Macdonald, the Thebacha MLA who represents Fort Smith, is a member of cabinet – a role that can limit some ministers’ ability to air constituents’ concerns in the legislature.)
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
On Tuesday, Hawkins asked finance minister Caroline Wawzonek if layoff notices were being handed to the 32 employees that work at the jail.
Wawzonek said no formal notices had been issued but the territorial government was taking a “proactive approach” by holding preliminary briefings featuring senior officials from the departments of justice and finance.
The minister said staff were being invited to those briefings now so that “if the time is coming up [for the jail to close], rather than waiting until formal notices are provided … staff actually have information in advance.”
“That way,” said Wawzonek, “when the clock does start to tick on getting a formal notice, people have the opportunity to make choices well in advance and with lots of time ahead of them.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Wawzonek said the GNWT’s staff retention policy allows employees a 21-week period when notice is given to them. She added some staff members are eligible for retirement, while others may be interested in transferring to a different facility.
Premier ‘lost sleep over this’
Hawkins had more questions on Wednesday, saying he received a letter from the community’s Thebacha Leadership Council highlighting need to find solutions that preserved jobs.
“Thirty-two jobs in a region matter to a Yellowknife MLA because it affects us all in one way or another,” he said.
Premier RJ Simpson, who doubles as the minister of justice, said cabinet was tasked with determining what “services or programs are costing us more than we can justify.” The territorial government has recently described a “dire” financial outlook as various environmental and economic crises hit the NWT.
Simpson said deciding to close a jail was not easy but, with facilities at only 50-percent capacity across the territory’s jails system, closure of the Fort Smith men’s jail was determined to be the “greatest cost saving.”
“I lost many nights of sleep over this – had very spirited discussions at cabinet – but, ultimately, that’s where we landed, because we could no longer justify having that facility open for the few number of inmates that we have in the Northwest Territories,” Simpson said.
The premier said he recognized the decision’s impact on the community, but Hawkins said the Thebacha Leadership Council – a group of municipal and Indigenous government leaders – felt it had been “given days or weeks” to come up with a solution.
“If the leadership council has some specific requests, I’m happy to hear those,” Simpson replied.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“We’re happy to help however we can. If it’s assistance looking for federal programs that could help operate a facility run by the leadership council or by an Indigenous government, we can assist with that.”
Union attacks ‘lip service’
On Friday, UNW president Gayla Thunstrom said the territorial government was showing a lack of interest in addressing “what they hear when they say they are ‘listening’.”
“While our government has talked publicly about supports and programs that might be available to help affected workers transition to other employment, they have yet to present our members with any clear plans or concrete commitments in that regard,” Thunstrom said in a news release.
“Our members are tired of lip service. They are tired of hearing ministers talk at length about how important their feedback is and then ignore it. They are tired of constantly shifting rhetoric and a lack of transparency and accountability from GNWT leadership.”
Thunstrom said when questioned about the future of the facility, ministers “defer and deflect.” She called the decision to shut the jail “a stab in the back from a government who claims to listen to communities and its employees.”
“They have made it clear that this government is no longer interested in supporting the workers and residents who will be most impacted by its decision to shutter this facility,” she said.
