The Yarmouth Correctional Facility. TINA COMEAU PHOTOYARMOUTH, NS – As the three-year mark approaches since full operations ceased at the Southwest Nova Scotia Correctional facility in Yarmouth, questions and concerns remain over when, or if, the jail will return to full capacity.
Otherwise, people on remand and serving sentences are housed at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside Park in Dartmouth. A provincial online description of the Yarmouth facility notes the jail has a staff complement of 35 people when it operates at full capacity. McLaughlin says there haven’t been staff layoffs as a result of the reduced operations.Two years of reduced operations at Yarmouth jail continues to have big impacts and unanswered questions
“What he’s saying, and I take it with a grain of salt, is they’re not going to close it, but they’re looking at different options right now and they should know in the new year,” says Churchill, who says the status of the jail has been a concern for some time now and answers are needed. But those in the local justice system say the ongoing jail situation is problematic for numerous reasons. Even some judges have expressed frustration and concern in open court.JUSTICE SYSTEM CHALLENGES
Also, Vacon says African Nova Scotians and Indigenous clients are impacted more harshly given their overrepresentation in jails. “They are not only isolated from their families and loved ones, they also face a much greater threat of losing their homes and their livelihood,” Vacon says, pointing out some individuals whose sentences are 90 days or less had the option of intermittent weekend sentences in the past.