Nunavut corrections director says conditions already improving

Jean-Pierre Deroy, Nunavut’s director of corrections, says staff and managers are already dealing with the many problems raised in the recent auditor general’s report on the state of corrections in the territory. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

The Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit, as seen from behind. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

Before the office of Canada’s auditor general released its embarrassing report on corrections in Nunavut March 10, corrections staff had already addressed most of its criticisms, says Jean-Pierre Deroy, Nunavut’s director of corrections.

“The report, in a sense, is good timing for us, because it helps us focus and navigate as to what our priorities should be,” Deroy said in a recent interview at his Iqaluit office.

Deroy spoke with Nunatsiaq News to describe how his department is fixing the problems that the auditor general exposed, which include more training for staff.

His department is giving his staff the tools and training they need to do their job under difficult circumstances, such as chronic overcrowding, security deficiencies, increasing violence and a shortage of trained staff in all Nunavut corrections facilities, he said.

“Throughout these trials, I feel proudest of our staff because they’re the ones who are holding it together every day,” said Deroy, who has worked in Nunavut corrections for more than 25 years.

To help his staff cope, the GN has increased training in self-defence techniques, dealing with mental health issues, counselling and how to verbally defuse tense situations, particularly in the overcrowded Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit.

“[But] When you put 115 or 110 people into a small building like that… you’re bound to have frictions, particularly between offenders.”

One tactic that came under fire in the auditor’s report is the practice of isolating troublesome inmates in segregation cells.

But Deroy said “segregation is used as little as possible… and the goal is always to get them out of there as soon as possible.”

Corrections staff have long used an approach called “dynamic supervision,” he said. That involves guards mixing with inmates in an open space in the facility.

Guards are the first line of defence in keeping the peace among inmates, with segregation used as a last resort, he said.

The BCC is so small that if inmates in segregation cells start banging the cell door or making noise, it disrupts the whole inmate population, he added.

At the March 10 auditor general’s news conference, an auditor noted there is a “strong lack of compliance” with the documenting of proper oversight procedures when placing inmates in segregation.

The audit found the appropriate authorization for placing inmates in segregation was not documented, but Deroy said that doesn’t mean authorization didn’t occur.

“I can guarantee you that nobody stays in segregation without proper authorization,” and his staff are now filing the appropriate paperwork to prove it, he said.

“We need to get better at documenting, and we will get better at it, but I’m confident in saying that our staff are acting appropriately,” he said.

The opening of the new minimum-security Makigiarvik facility in Iqaluit this year will help separate inmates of different security levels, as well as provide much-needed programming space, he said.

Auditors also criticized the territory’s justice department for a lack of fully-trained staff in Rankin Inlet when the facility first opened, as well as for not having a clearly documented vision for the facility.

In terms of staffing the Rankin Inlet jail, Deroy said the main challenge was finding Nunavummiut from the Kivalliq region with relevant experience and education.

“We really tried to hire people from the region… but we had to start from scratch,” Deroy said. “All the basics we had to teach them, and then they had to practice.”

And the facility does have a vision, he said. “It may not be a written vision, but we’re in discussion on a regular basis, on a weekly basis.”

Rehabilitative programming is constantly changing according to current research and inmates’ needs, Deroy added, and at the Rankin Inlet facility, his staff are experimenting with different approaches.

But whatever the challenge, the top priority will always be serving the inmates, Deroy said.

“All too often [Nunavut] corrections gets in the news because of the bad things we do… but we do a lot of good things in corrections,” he said.

“All of us need to be involved in their healing and rehabilitation,” he added. “I need help from people in the communities that the inmates come from.”

And here’s the overall fix for Nunavut’s corrections system — that’s why Inuit staff are so crucial, Deroy said. He’s hoping to recruit more Inuit employees soon.

“Corrections officer in Nunavut is definitely a career path,” Deroy said, and the department is willing to train people with the right attitude, regardless of their education level.

“You don’t become a corrections officer because it’s the easiest job in the world. It’s a hard job. But people who stay for a while, they’re not just there for the money — they’re there to make a difference in people’s lives.”

The new Makigiarvik facility which was originally meant as a temporary overflow jail. Some inmates are currently residing there while BCC undergoes extensive renovations. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)