N.S. weighing public-private partnership for new Cape Breton jail | CBC News
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The Nova Scotia government is getting closer to building a new jail in Cape Breton by calling for a study that would determine whether a public-private partnership is the best construction method.
The project has been under discussion for years and details are still scarce, but a tender document for the study says the province is looking for a smaller 87-bed structure to replace the existing 96-bed jail.
“The [study] will assess whether an alternative service delivery model will achieve greater value for money to the public as compared to a traditional construction model for the replacement of [the] Cape Breton Correctional Facility,” the tender says.
Alternative service usually refers to a public-private partnership or P3 model. In an email, the Justice Department said the study will consider all models.
Work on replacing the facility has been underway since at least 2018, when the former Liberal government confirmed it was studying the idea and the union representing correctional workers confirmed it had been invited into the discussion.
The 51-year-old jail opened in 1975 and is located near Gardiner Mines, about halfway between Sydney and Glace Bay.
The department said the project is “still in the planning stages and details around location and construction timelines are still being considered.”
This year’s capital budget does not contain any money for the Cape Breton jail.
A four-year-old assessment of the existing facility, released under a freedom of information request, found the jail was in poor condition and needed $7 million in repairs over a five-year period to the physical building and safety and security systems.
Six-month contract
The assessment says the facility includes a one-storey administration building and an annex was added to the jail about 20 years ago to temporarily house young offenders and females.
The tender for a new value-for-money study closes March 26 and says it is for a six-month contract.
The tender documents says when the study is done, the justice and public works departments will go to the province’s treasury and policy board with a recommendation on how to proceed with construction of a new facility.
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