Provincial transfer vans head to new remand centre

EDMONTON- It appears the province has begun the enormous task of transferring inmates to the new remand centre in north Edmonton.

Shortly after 3:00 Friday afternoon, sheriff vans were seen at both remand facilities in Edmonton, the old Boyle Street location and the new remand centre on 127 street near the Anthony Henday.

Provincial vans were seen travelling from the old location to the new $580 million jail. It is the largest prison in Canada.

The move comes just one day after the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) said the province hadn’t yet addressed any of the safety concerns raised over the past number of months. The union asked the justice minister to delay the opening so that none of its members are put in danger on the job.

“They do have the right to refuse work under health and safety legislation and that’s the direction we’ve given them. It’s a new building, we know that there’s still some issues in that building that we want dealt with,” AUPE President Guy Smith said Friday evening.

“(Our members) are going to keep Albertans safe, they’re going to keep themselves safe and they’re going to keep the inmates safe,” Smith said, “But, they need to be aware of any risks that are in that new building.”

Alberta Justice and Solicitor General’s office released a statement Friday stating, “The department contacted OHS reps yesterday and indicated we will assist them and help them in whatever way we can as OHS looks into the concerns raised by the union.”

Smith says it does give him some relief to know an OHS officer has been assigned to look into the union’s concerns.

“The health and safety officers that are going in there are professionals and they will be able to identify the concerns that we raised and what needs to be done to rectify those concerns. So obviously the ministry will have to follow those recommendations.”

Officials have said it will take several days to complete the move, and few details of the process have been released for security purposes.

“From what I understand they’ll be doing it throughout the weekend, moving those inmates,” Smith said.

Approximately 800 inmates will be transferred to the new facility, which has about 2,000 beds and the capacity to hold more prisoners if needed.