N.B. government says construction of $66M Grand Lake jail will go ahead following review

The New Brunswick Liberal government says construction of a $66-million jail in Grand Lake will move forward, after raising the possibility of the project’s cancellation last week.

Public Safety Minster Robert Gauvin said the new government’s re-evaluation determined the project’s location was appropriate after all.

“A responsible government reviews every project,” Gauvin told reporters on Thursday. “We wanted to make sure we had the facts right.”

Gauvin said there’s a clear need for additional correctional spaces, with consistent overcrowding in the province,

“Since I’ve become minister, every day I get the stats,” said Gauvin. “There’s not a day where we’re under 100 per cent capacity.”

Gauvin said the Grand Lake review found a high level of social-acceptance in the area for such a facility, adding that concerns about the centre’s proximity to a hospital (about 45 minutes) were still being looked at.

Premier Susan Holt made a Facebook post on Wednesday evening confirming the Grand Lake project would go ahead, as well as offering an apology “to the community of Grand Lake for the fear and disruption we have caused.”

Grand Lake Mayor Kevin Nicklin said “it was kind of a shock” to learn about the review last week.

"They had to do their due diligence, and they did, and it seems to have worked out,” said Nicklin to reporters outside the legislature on Thursday.

Nicklin was accompanied by other residents advocating for the jail’s Grand Lake location.

About $5 million has already been spent on site prep-work for the Central New Brunswick Correctional Centre, announced by the previous Progressive Conservative government in June 2023.

The jail in Grand Lake is scheduled to open in 2026.

Former Progressive Conservative Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, who currently represents the riding of Fredericton-Grand Lake, said the former government “had the evidence behind us” on choosing Grand Lake.

“I knew I made the right decision, as former minister, to put it where it was and to build it in the first place,” said Austin. “I just was going to hold off to see what the government did, and they did the right thing. So, a battle for another day.”

Costs for the new jail have more than doubled from the initial estimate of $32 million, with the increase being blamed on inflation.

The initial plan to build a new jail within Fredericton’s Vanier Industrial Park was abandoned in May 2023, following opposition from some residents in the area.

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