N.B. ditched plan to build new jail in Fredericton, despite warnings from deputy minister

The New Brunswick governmentabandoned plans to build a new jail at a site in Fredericton, despite warnings from the deputy minister of justice and public safety that building outside the city would cost more and put inmates further from addiction and mental health services.

Those concerns echoed warnings from staff in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure that the original site in Fredericton's Vanier Industrial Park area was the only suitable location identified, according to emails reviewed by CBC.

"Do you need an articulation of the downsides to a decision to abandon the selected site and the agreement with the city and go looking for another site, on that list or elsewhere?" Mike Comeau, the deputy minister of justice and public safety, wrote on March 4.

"Specific to the project: there is no site that better meets the needs. Every other site identified is inferior on one or more criteria."

Comeau's email was sent to Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, then-Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jeff Carr and the deputy minister of transportation and infrastructure, Rob Taylor.

A location further from downtown Fredericton would mean "less access to services, more transportation cost, more carbon footprint, and more risk of escape [or] road incident," Comeau noted in the emails.

Despite Comeau's comments, the Department of Justice and Public Safety announced in May that it wouldn't build the jail in Fredericton, citing "concerns raised by the public who live close to the proposed location" as the reason for reversing course.

The department didn't explain why the province waited until after Fredericton council had already made the contentious decision to rezone land for the jail to decide it wouldn't build there.

The province has since announced it will build the jail in Minto, which is in Austin's riding.

The Minto site is about 55 kilometres from downtown Fredericton. The original Fredericton location is about 10 kilometres from downtown.

Public safety couldn't find any records

CBC filed a right to information request to the Department of Justice and Public Safety for records about how the minister reached the decision to abandon the Fredericton jail site.

The department told CBC it "failed to retrieve any records relevant to your request."

But it's not because records on the topic don't exist. A separate request to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure uncovered numerous emails back and forth between senior officials in the transportation and public safety departments, leading up to the province's announcement that it would abandon the Fredericton site.

The plan to build a $32-million provincial jail in the Fredericton area was first announced in December 2021, with then-Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming saying the correctional system was "stretched." Since taking over the portfolio in October 2022, Austin has been steadfast on the need for the jail, citing rising crime.

• Province didn't do analysis of corrections system before deciding to build Fredericton-area jail, records show

Criminologists and opponents of the jail have argued the money should be spent to address issues such as homelessness and addiction instead.

Fredericton site scored highest in review of 16locations

In early January, staff in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure briefed Comeau on the process of selecting the site, ahead of a presentation at Fredericton council.

Mike Cashin, a senior project engineer in the department's buildings division, explained the site selection was facilitated by the infrastructure department. Public Safety reviewed and approved the criteria for the site, while Cashin reviewed each site to give it a score.

Cashin's email says 16 properties in the greater Fredericton and Oromocto area were reviewed, and four were shortlisted for deeper review. The Vanier Industrial Park area site scored highest.

The criteria included being within city limits, close to mental health and addictionservices, having good street and highway access, and not being immediately adjacent to residential areas.

Hours after Comeau received the information, he was among several speakers who addressed a packed Fredericton council chamber, including some who opposed the construction of a new jail. Later that month, council approved the rezoning of the land, paving the way toward the sale of the land for the jail.

• Opponents of Fredericton jail proposal pack council chamber to hear public comments

But the sale wouldn't happen.

On Jan. 30, a week after Fredericton council's vote, Comeau wrote to several people in the public safety and transportation departments, saying he needed a briefing note for multiple ministers.

The note should cover the site selection, status of the agreement with the city, and "implications should [the government of New Brunswick] for some reason decide not to finalize this purchase and build somewhere else," he wrote.

Comeau said both departments should be "fully aligned," noting he'd been confused about who selected the site for the jail up until that very morning.

"Let's make sure we're in agreement on whatever are those facts," Comeau wrote.

On a Sunday morning a few days later, Comeau emailed several people, including Premier Blaine Higgs, Austinand Carr, with the subject line: "advice to Ministers: Fredericton Region Correctional Centre site selection."

The contents of the email marked of "high" importance were redacted in the copy provided to CBC.

'There really is no other site worth targeting'

In late February, staff in the transportation department were called to a meeting with the premier to discuss the jail. It's not clear what happened in that meeting. No notes were included in the records given to CBC.

A few days later, Comeau sent Austin, Carr and deputy transportation minister Taylor his argument for why the province shouldn't scrap its plans in Fredericton.

"I think we need to ensure we are moving in the right direction and be able to rationalize it to the local MLA and residents," Austin wrote back to Comeau. "If there are other options that are easier to swallow I'm open to hearing about them as well."

Comeau doubled down, and sent a lengthy email to Austin, Carr and Taylor, saying staff in his department who were part of the process concluded "there really is no other site worth targeting," listing several "disadvantages of cancelling this deal and starting over with a search outside the city."

He wrote that 75 to 80 out of 100 people in the new jail are expected to be local to Fredericton.

"The further we get from Fredericton, the longer the drive to move inmates to jail and back, and longer drives mean more risk of escape and collision (and thus cost and injury), more gas and employee time consumed," Comeau wrote.

"It also takes the inmates further away from support services and their loved ones."

Comeau also argued the province couldn't guarantee it would quickly find a parcel of land elsewhere that wouldn't draw the same opposition as the site in Fredericton.

"Jail can draw NIMBY [not in my backyard] fury outside of Lincoln Heights," he wrote.

• Lack of open Q&A at Minto jail meeting leaves sour taste for some at packed public meeting

Comeau's argument didn't seem to have an effect. The next day, staff in the infrastructure department were asked "for points describing the disadvantages of relocating jail build to [the second- and third-ranked sites] or to a rural area." The addresses of the second- and third-ranked sites were redacted in CBC's records.

"Clearly somebody is still pushing against this decision," Mike Johnston, the assistant deputy minister of public safety, wrote.

Price of jail has climbed $10 million

Transportation staff warned that the second- and third-ranked sites weren't feasible options because they were too close to residential areas. They also warned the province would be facing higher costs to build infrastructure for the jail outside the city.

The province opted to cancel plans for the Fredericton site anyway, announcing the decision on May 29, months after residents in the area first raised concerns about the location.

When the province announced the new site in Minto on July 31, it noted the jail is now expected to cost about $42 million, which is $10 million more than the original estimate in December 2021.

Neither Carr, Austin nor Comeau were made available for an interview with CBC to explain why the province made the decision when it did. Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers also wasn't made available for an interview.

• Fredericton to seek more than $100K in costs associated with cancelled jail plan

"We have no additional comments to make about the location of the correctional centre and no update to provide on seeking reimbursement," City of Fredericton spokesperson Wayne Knorr wrote in an email.