Shakeup looming in corrections system

Newfoundland and Labrador's corrections system was poised Wednesday for a shakeup, as the chief administrator of the province's jails was replaced.

Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy confirmed Wednesday afternoon that John Scoville has been removed from his position. Graham Rogerson has been appointedto serve as the acting superintendent of prisons.

The change comes at the completion of an external review that Kennedy approved earlier this year, to assess Newfoundland and Labrador's jails and holding facilities.

Kennedy saidthat he received the review a few days agoand that when it was released to the public a lot of the questions raised on Wednesday would be answered. He said the report, which is 200 pages and makes 77 recommendations, would be made public after it's reviewed by government.

Contacted by CBC News, Scoville had no comment.

Sources told CBC News that the change in the superintendent's office is but one move of what could be substantial changes in management of the corrections system.

Critics have long complained about conditions at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, citing atrocious living conditions for inmates and dangerous working conditions for staff.

The external review deals with HMP a prison near downtown St. John'sthatretains structures built in Victorian times and smaller jails around the province.

'I was appalled': Kennedy

In April, when Kennedy appointed out-of-province experts Simonne Poirier and Gregory Brown to review the corrections system, he promised sweeping reforms.

"When I went through there last week, I was appalled," Kennedy said at the time.

Kennedy, a former criminal defence attorney who was first elected a year ago, has made addressing the corrections system a priority.

On Sunday, while participating in a wreath-laying ceremony to honour police and peace officers killed in the line of duty, Kennedy paid special attention to corrections officers, who he said regularly put their lives on the line.

Kennedy called the review after a series of incidents in the province's jails, including a suicide at HMP and a case in which a mentally distraught woman in Happy Valley-Goose Bay was held naked for several days in a cell because of a lack of space in the local hospital.

Reviewers given broad mandate

Poirier, a retired warden of Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick, and Brown, a three-decade veteran of the Correctional Service of Canada and a senior manager of prisons in Renous, N.B., and Springhill, N.S., were given a broad scope for their review.

In addition to reviewing the physical infrastructure of the province's jails, the 11 terms of reference included reviewing the management and organizational structure of the corrections system;reviewing labour relations and internal communications; and assessing occupational health and safety issues.

Poirier and Brown were also asked to review provincial legislation as well as staffing "levels and practices."