The process to identify ways to better protect the staff, inmates and home communities of B.C.'s correctional centres is now underway, as Parliamentary Secretary for Corrections Laurie Throness began his tour of the nine centres this week.

The tour will allow Throness to view front-line corrections processes and practices and meet with managers and staff. Per his mandate, the parliamentary secretary will follow up by bringing together stakeholders - including corrections staff and community advisory boards, police, municipal leaders and representatives of the health and social services sectors - for at least eight roundtable consultations in communities with provincial correctional centres.

Under his terms of reference, Throness's goals also include:

• Visits to community corrections offices, which manage offenders in the community who are on probation or serving a conditional sentence.

• Conducting a literature review and consulting with academics.

• Meeting with BC Corrections' senior management, who have extensive experience in custodial settings and community corrections.

• Make recommendations that will enhance safety strategies to protect staff, inmates and communities in which correctional centres are located.

Throness's reviews and consultations will culminate in a report to Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton by June 30, 2014. The report is to summarize existing safety strategies and the results of the stakeholder consultation, identify potential challenges and recommend safety-enhancing opportunities, operational improvements and next steps, with a focus on being cost-neutral to government.

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Quotes:

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton -

"Safety is the driving force in B.C.'s correctional system - from the training that correctional officers receive, to the security features in new and expanded custody centres, to how we assess and manage offenders both in custody and in our communities. The review ahead is about going further, listening to the perspectives of all involved and exploring ways that we can advance safety within the current corrections budget."

Parliamentary Secretary for Corrections Laurie Throness -

"The opportunity to help shape the corrections system and its underlying policies and practices is a natural extension of work I've done in the past, including in the areas of public administration and researching the history of our prison system. I look forward to a constructive dialogue with concerned stakeholders, and I would encourage them to get involved and share with me their perspectives and ideas."

Quick Facts:

• B.C.'s nine correctional centres hold people aged 18 and over who are awaiting trial or serving a jail sentence of less than two years' duration.

• BC Corrections currently manages on average 2,500 inmates in custody and 22,000 offenders who are on a bail order before trial, on probation or serving a sentence in the community.

• The provincial government is in the midst of the largest capital expansion in BC Corrections' history. Work continues toward the completion of an expanded Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, which will become B.C.'s largest provincial correctional centre, and the beginning of construction of a new centre in the Okanagan.

Learn More:

BC Corrections home page: www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/corrections/

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton's mandate letter is at: www.gov.bc.ca/premier/cabinet_ministers/suzanne_anton_mandate_letter.pdf

Parliamentary Secretary Throness's mandate letter and terms of reference are at: www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/public/corrections/throness.pdf

Contact:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Justice
250 356-6961