Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski doesn’t think the documents released by the Liberals concerning the closure of the Dauphin Jail should surprise anyone.
“I don’t think Mr Lamont has any smoking gun here.”
Michaleski says the decision around the courthouse and jail has been a long-standing issue, and departments have been aware of the situation for many years.
“I looked at, sort of, the timeline of what Mr Lamont was suggesting, and it does show that the government took time to consider this decision. It wasn’t a decision that was made lightly, it wasn’t a decision that was made quickly, and I think the documents that minister Lamont supposedly has does point out that the decision wasn’t taken lightly.”
Michaleski says he knew about the plans to close the jail beforehand because he was part of the announcement.
“Certainly, I knew, and I was part of that group that came and presented to council, what the decision was. Again, I appreciate the fact that there was three ministers and myself that came up and made the announcement. It wasn’t something that we were running away from, we came and made a decision, and announced it at the same time.”
Michaleski also wanted to say that he’s had discussions with the justice department on COVID in corrections.
“I know that there’s a declining number of inmates in provincial institutions and, of course, top of mind has been the safety of the staff and inmates during COVID. So I know, with declining numbers overall in provincial corrections and a declining number in Dauphin, I think there was measures taken to ensure COVID was being considered in terms of safety of the staff and inmates.”
Michaleski says he raised the issue of the DCC workers having to move during a pandemic with the department.
“The government has made a decision and it wasn’t taken lightly and there’s a timeline to wind down. Again, the concerns about COVID and extending it (The timeline of the closure), if there was some situation where the staff and inmates were at high level, but in fact, Dauphin was declining in numbers.”
