Canada’s newest finance minister and (now former) public safety minister Dominic Leblanc was at the Dorchester Penitentiary on Thursday to announce progress on a major new project: a standalone Health Centre of Excellence to replace the existing Shepody Healing Centre. LeBlanc told reporters that the project would be a “game changer for Tantramar, for southeastern New Brunswick, and for the Correctional Service of Canada across the country.”
It’s been years since the project was first announced in 2019, but LeBlanc said that last week the Treasury Board approved the funding, and “the money is safely now in the account of the Correctional Service of Canada.” Though he said procurement rules prevented him from disclosing the budgeted amount, he said it was “one of the largest investments the Government of Canada has made in New Brunswick since the Confederation bridge was built.” The fixed link to PEI cost about $840 million when it was built in the 1990s.
LeBlanc also announced a pre-approved list of national construction companies who will be invited to bid on the final design and building of the centre. Bird Design-Build Construction Inc., EllisDon Corporation, and Pomerleau Inc. will be able to submit proposals once the government finalizes and releases its request for proposals in February.
The new centre will replace and expand on the work of the current Shepody Healing Centre located inside the main penitentiary complex.
According to plans announced at a public meeting in Dorchester this past summer, the centre will accommodate multiple levels of security, and have room for up to 155 patients including a small number of women. Officials said the two to three story building would have its own defined, secured, and patrolled perimeter.
Leblanc said the project would bring hundreds of federal jobs to Dorchester.
The minister and Beauséjour MP explained to reporters why it has taken so long to get to today’s announcement.
“The global pandemic didn’t help,” said LeBlanc, adding also that the Treasury Board required other site options to be evaluated. “So there were studies done about whether this facility should be located in another province? Should it be in the downtown of a city? That process is over,” said LeBlanc. “The decision is to build it right here behind us,” gesturing in the direction of a piece of land known as ‘the meadow’, to the right of the driveway approaching the penitentiary, along Main Street.
The meadows was formerly used as part of a prison farm in the minimum security Westmoreland Institution. That and all other prison farms in Canada were closed down by the Harper government in about 2010.
Leblanc said he had visited the Westmoreland Institution when the farm was active, and noted that “there was a waiting list of people who wanted to get up at five in the morning and work with the dairy herd.”
“That was, in my view, a bad decision to get rid of the prison farms,” says LeBlanc. “I have been asking the Correctional Service of Canada to tell me how we could, maybe, on a different scale, bring back the prison farm.” LeBlanc said the Health Centre project would “in no way” take away from the need to look at the possibility.
Leblanc noted that Thursday’s announcement might be his last as public safety minister, in light of the cabinet shuffle slated for Friday. He had kind words for Correctional Service Canada staff, calling them “unsung heroes”, and also gave shout outs to Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton and Mayor Andrew Black, who both attended the announcement.
CHMA caught up with Mayor Black after the event, outside the doors of Dorchester Penitentiary, overlooking the Memramcook river valley:
Black said progress on the health centre has been “a long time coming,” and that Thursday’s news was welcome. “It’ll be a huge investment in our community,” he said.
In advance of the event, Black had a chance to ask LeBlanc some questions regarding municipal infrastructure and taxation.
“When you have a building of that size, it’s going to require a lot more services from the municipality,” said Black, noting the current penitentiary makes use of Dorchester’s water and fire protection services.
LeBlanc acknowledged Black’s enquiry at the news conference. “The mayor made a good pitch in the earlier meeting about working with the municipality on the cost of infrastructure,” said LeBlanc. “We’ll be working with Andrew and his colleagues to ensure that we do it in the right way for the community.”
Black also pressed the minister about taxation. “For a long, long time, the municipality, formerly the village of Dorchester, got what’s called payment in lieu of taxes,” said Black, “which is absolutely not equitable.”
“It’s not the right amount of money that the municipality should receive from this institution, and now we’re going to have a multi-million dollar addition on top of that,” said Black.
“The minister did not have an answer to that,” said Black. “He said, we’ll have a further conversation about that, so I will be following up with him, because I think it’s a conversation we need to have.”
