AMHERST – Brian Skabar is well aware of how people in this part of Nova Scotia feel about the loss of the area’s lone correctional centre and he’s working to try to minimize the impact.
The Cumberland North MLA said he is as disappointed as everyone about his government’s decision to build one new correctional centre to replace aging jails in Amherst and Antigonish, and he’s working with Justice Minister Ross Landry to put something in place that will handle the immediate demands of the system.
“I have spoken to the minister about concerns with the maintenance of the justice system in the Amherst area after the jail is gone and have been given every assurance that arrangements will be in place,” Skabar said Wednesday.
“There should be a press release from the minister’s office soon on that.”
Skabar said a remand centre is something he is hoping the province will commit to so that offenders don’t have to be shuttled across northern Nova Scotia between court appearances.
Soon after the province announced its plan to build a new jail somewhere between Truro and Antigonish, the local legal community and law enforcement agencies expressed concern with the administration of justice if offenders had to be shipped back and forth to another part of the province.
Skabar has made those concerns known to the justice minister and feels a remand centre in the area would alleviate those problems.
Since Landry’s decision, Skabar has taken a lot of heat from his constituents. Skabar understands the frustration, adding that as much as he understands the decision, it hasn’t made it easier to accept.
The MLA said that during the spring election campaign, he advocated making the jail decision on the best business case. At that time, he figured the plan was to build two jails and that Amherst would probably be an economical choice over the previous government’s proposed jail in Springhill.
But now that the province’s financial picture was clarified, he understands the decision to build one jail instead of two. That doesn’t mean he has to like it.
“Do I support the government's position on this matter? I do. Do I like it? No,” Skabar said.
“As someone from Amherst and the Cumberland North MLA, I don’t like the decision, but as a Nova Scotian I have to support saving over $5 million to build it and saving over $1 million a year in operating it.”
Skabar, who has yet to see the business plan on which the decision was based, said he has had several discussions with Amherst Mayor Robert Small, but could not attend a news conference held last week by area municipal leaders because he was not notified about it until the night before.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
Source:amherstdaily.com/i
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