Alberta to appoint system navigators in an effort to coordinate inmate releases

After concerns were raised about inmates being dropped off in downtown Edmonton, the province says it is creating a new role to coordinate them.

After video footage of inmates being released in Edmonton’s Chinatown circulated, the province said it will appoint system navigators at correctional institutions in an effort to coordinate inmate releases.

“Our government has met with Chinatown residents and providers and have taken their concerns seriously, taking concrete steps to make their community safer,” said a statement from the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services.

System navigators typically help individuals connect with various social services, but the province did not elaborate on the specifics of the role.

The ministry went on to say that it relocated the Edmonton Remand Centre to the outskirts of the city in an effort to keep Chinatown and downtown safer. The former location of the Remand Centre on 97 Street was decommissioned in 2013.

The province’s statement came the same day the New Democrats called on the United Conservative Party government to immediately cease detainee drop-offs in Chinatown and beyond.

“Whether you’re running a business in Chinatown, walking home from work, or heading to the Ice District for a hockey game, you should feel safe,” said David Shepherd, MLA for Edmonton-City Centre and Alberta NDP Shadow Minister for Public Safety in a statement. “While Minister Ellis has acknowledged the issue, his response denies the realities Chinatown has lived with for years.”

The NDP also called on the province to expand reintegration and wraparound support services for people leaving custody before and after release, and to require a discharge-and-reintegration plan for high risk and/or highly vulnerable offenders before release.

“The NDP have some nerve to be fearmongering about disorder in Edmonton’s Chinatown after installing three drug consumption sites in their community during their short-lived time in power,” said the ministry’s press secretary Arthur Green in an emailed statement to CTV News Edmonton. “If the NDP had been paying any attention, they would know our government is already taking real action to address them.”

The province added that it has made investments to bring more social supports into the community to address homelessness and help people recover from addiction.