Northern Canada

Nunavut jail safety concerns mount

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Prisons, Northern Canada
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CBC News – May 13, 2010

More safety concerns have surfaced about the Baffin Correctional Centre following the dismissal of Nunavut fire marshal Tony Noakes, who has called the overcrowded jail hazardous.

Noakes moved out of Iqaluit on Thursday, after he was fired as the territory's fire marshal earlier in the week.His termination letter from the Nunavut government stated that Noakes was unsuitable for the job, but Noakes said he believes he was fired because he complained repeatedly about the Iqaluit jail failing to address a number of fire code violations.

Nunavut's fire marshal fired

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Prisons, Northern Canada
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Tony Noakes

CBC News – May 12, 2010

Tony Noakes, who has been fired as Nunavut's fire marshal, claims his dismissal stems from concerns he has about overcrowded and unsafe conditions at the Baffin Correctional Centre.

Noakes was terminated from his job this week, just as his one-year probation period was ending.In a letter to Noakes, officials stated that he was "rejected on probation from the position of fire marshal with the government of Nunavut due to unsuitability."

Baffin inmates stressed by overcrowding: lawyer

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CBC News – May 17, 2007

An Iqaluit legal aid lawyer says inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre are so stressed out by overcrowding that some would rather plead guilty and go to a federal prison than await trial at the territorial jail.

Last month, as many as 96 inmates were at the Baffin Correctional Centre — which has a capacity of 65 but often houses at least 70 — with up to 25 inmates having to sleep on mattresses in the jail's gym. The Nunavut Justice Department has attributed the overcrowding to more long-term sentences and longer wait-times before trials.

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