'No foregone conclusions' on new N.L. penitentiary

Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day said Monday the federal government is still considering Newfoundland and Labrador's request to build a new penitentiary.

Day  toured Her Majesty's Penitentiary (HMP) in St. John's on Monday, a building that has long been criticized for its crumbling architecture and lack of facilities to deal with inmates with mental illnesses.

Corrections workers and mental health activists have decried conditions at HMP, which is chronically overcrowded and has antiquated facilities. Parts of the institution date to 1859.

Day said no decision has yet been made about whether HMP will be replaced, and if Newfoundland and Labrador will be home to a new federal penitentiary.

"We're going to look at existing facilities and future potential, and I really am approaching it with no foregone conclusions," Day told reporters. "Your MPs here, Fabian [Manning] and others, and local officials have some ideas. They have some things they want me to see and I don't want to prejudge that. I want to come in with an open mind."

Loyola Hearn, minister of fisheries and oceans, MPs Norm Doyle and Manning joined Day at the press conference.

The provincial government has proposed St. John's and Harbour Grace as possible sites for the new institution, which will cost between $100 million and $150 million.