Audit at a Glance—Corrections in Nunavut—Department of Justice

Audit at a Glance Corrections in Nunavut—Department of Justice

What we examined (see Focus of the Audit)

This audit focused on whether the Nunavut Department of Justice was meeting its key responsibilities for inmates within the corrections system. We audited whether the Department of Justice:

We did not examine court services, sentencing decisions, community corrections, the management of inmates outside the territory, or community justice programs. We also did not audit the management of youth or women in custody.

The audit covered the period between 1 April 2012 and 1 September 2014.

Why we did this audit

This audit is important because crime is a significant issue in Nunavut. Since 2001, crime rates and inmate populations have increased substantially. The corrections system plays a critical role in protecting the public by supervising offenders detained in custody, with a view to their rehabilitation.

The Department of Justice is responsible for corrections services in Nunavut, as outlined in the Corrections Act (1988) and its regulations. Within the Department, the Corrections Division is responsible for probation, parole, aftercare, and adult institutional services. It is also responsible for the custodial detention of youth as well as their supervision in the community under the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act and territorial Young Offenders Act. Its mission is to “protect society by exercising reasonable control of offenders, and by providing a range of programs to assist offenders to become law-abiding members of the community.”

Corrections is a significant issue in Nunavut. According to Statistics Canada, the territory’s 2013 crime rate was the second-highest in the country. In the 2013–14 fiscal year, the Department allocated more than $32 million (32 percent of its budget) to the Corrections Division. The allocation included almost $22 million for uses directly related to custodial sentences.

What we concluded

We concluded that the Department of Justice has not met its key responsibilities for inmates within the correctional system. We concluded that the Department of Justice did not adequately plan for and operate facilities to house inmates, and did not adequately manage inmates in compliance with key rehabilitation and reintegration requirements.

What we found

Facility management

Overall, we found that the Department of Justice has not adequately met key responsibilities for its management of correctional facilities in Nunavut. The Department has known for almost two decades that it has critical correctional facility needs and has taken some steps to address these needs through the construction of the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility and Makigiarvik, at a combined cost of approximately $53 million. While these facilities will provide some relief of overcrowding, they do not address the territory’s most critical facility needs: the lack of appropriate space (including the need for maximum-security space) and the poor condition of the Baffin Correctional Centre. Issues at this facility include holes in walls, the presence of mould, non-compliance with the National Fire Code, and the housing of inmates with medium- and maximum-security ratings in a minimum-security facility—all of which continue to put the safety and security of inmates and staff at risk.

This is important because, under the Corrections Act and regulations, the Department has a responsibility for ensuring the safe and secure operation of correctional facilities, as part of its mandate to treat inmates while protecting the community. The Department has key obligations for ensuring that inmates are appropriately placed and supervised in support of their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.

Inmate case management

Overall, we found that serious case management deficiencies limit the Department’s efforts to rehabilitate inmates and prepare them for release back to the community. There are significant gaps in how inmate case management is carried out at the territory’s two largest correctional facilities: the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility. Further, the way inmates are housed at the Baffin Correctional Centre, in part due to the pressures of overcrowding, limits the Department’s ability to conduct the case management of inmates within the facility.

In every file we examined at the two facilities, we found that plans for guiding the inmates’ rehabilitation had not been completed. Consequently, few inmates had rehabilitative programs recommended to them to help with issues such as anger management and substance abuse. In addition, plans had not been developed for their release back to their community to help them reintegrate. At both facilities, we also found that inmates had limited access to rehabilitative programs. For the inmates’ files we examined, most inmates identified as needing mental health services did not receive them. However, the smallest facility we looked at, the Uttaqivik Community Residential Centre, provided an example of good inmate case management in all of these areas.

This is important because the Department has a legislative responsibility to provide for the correction and treatment of offenders and the protection of the community through correctional programming and support services in facilities. Lack of access to these programs and services for inmates means that many are returning to their home communities without having received the support that may have assisted them in their rehabilitation and reintegration.

Entity Responses to Recommendations

The Department of Justice agrees with our recommendations. The List of Recommendations provides the recommendations put forth in this report, along with the entity’s detailed responses.

Details of the audit

Report of the Auditor General of Canada
Type of product Performance audit
Audited entities Department of Justice (Nunavut)
Completion date 3 November 2014
Tabling date 10 March 2015
Related audits Reports to Nunavut Legislative Assembly

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