Aging prison leads to violent atmosphere: NAPE

The federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments must get back to talking about a new prison, as violence is increasing at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's, the head of the province's largest union says.

Carol Furlong, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, said the federal government was supposed to help out with a new facility but the talks seem to have gone off the rails.

Ottawa should start investing in a new prison to help ease the violence in the penitentiary, Furlong said.

"The federal government has got to put its money where its mouth is. If they want to have services in this province, which I think they do need, then they're going to have to provide the funding," Furlong said.

"I believe at one time there were discussions ongoing about that, and I think there was some intentions to provide that, but somehow it fell off the tracks."

Recent assaults

Furlong said her members are concerned about their own safety and that of the inmates in their care.

"We've seen some serious assaults on guards," Furlong said.

"They also have concerns for the people in their care, of course. And we had, just about a year and a half ago, there was somebody, one of these guards, who actually had a knife held up to his throat."

Recently, an inmate threw a computer and a fan at a guard and tried to throw him down flight of stairs.

In another incident, one inmate gouged out another's eye with a pen.

Her Majesty's Penitentiary has long been criticized for its crumbling infrastructure and lack of facilities to deal with inmates with mental illnesses.

Parts of the institution date back to 1859.