Staff shortage at N.S. jail at 'crisis' level, union says

The union representing Nova Scotia correctional officers says there is a staffing crisis at the province's largest jail in Dartmouth and it's putting both guards and inmates at risk.

Hugh Gillis is first vice-president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU). He said the situation at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Centre, better known as the Burnside jail, has reached a critical point.

"We now have the worst staffing in history at the facility," Gillis said Monday.

He said last week there were days when only two officers each were available to staff two wings of the jail, when there should be a minimum of five officers in each wing.

"When you're down to only two staff in the living units, everything is slow," Gillis said.

"The minimum you need to do is you need to feed the offenders, you need to give them their medication and you need to get them out to court and they're struggling just to do the basics."

Gillis said with staffing levels that low, it would be too dangerous to let inmates out of their cells, meaning they're being held for far longer than they should be.

This is not the first time staffing issues have been raised about the Burnside Jail. Some inmates have tried — unsuccessfully so far — to challenge their lengthy detentions in court.

While judges have rejected the inmate challenges, they have also issued warnings about the ongoing problem.

Gillis said inmate frustration with spending long periods locked in their cells has created escalating violence at the jail.

"The offenders are very irritable; you'd be irritable if you were locked up days on end as well," Gillis said.

"And so as soon as they're unlocked, not surprising that they're taking it out on the staff, punching them in the face, throwing feces, throwing urine, being viciously assaulted, knocked unconscious."

Allegations of violence at the Burnside jail are not new. In fact, there has been a long history of violence there. The most serious incident was in December 2019, when 15 men organized an attack on another inmate.  But there have been other incidents documented in past years including one in which an inmate grabbed a guard's pepper spray and used it against officers.

Gillis said the government has to do a better job of recruiting and keeping correctional officers because experienced officers are retiring at the same, or faster, rate than new recruits are brought in, which only adds to the staffing crisis.

Recruitment and retention efforts

The provincial government told CBC News that correctional services, like other employers, is facing staffing challenges. It said it's working on a strategy to address recruitment and retention for correctional officers.

"Recruitment takes time and that's why Correctional Services continues to reach out to our communities and networks to generate interest in these important positions," a spokesperson for the Justice Department said in an email.

"We have hosted career fairs to attract qualified correctional officer candidates and recently participated in community career fairs in Sydney and Halifax. We have already extended the length the job postings so interested and qualified candidates have more time to apply."