NAPE says the delay in replacement of Her Majesty’s Penitentiary is a serious workplace issue for its members.

President Jerry Earle was responding to government reissuing a Request for Qualifications for replacement of the aging facility after a previous call resulted in just one response.

Government won’t call its decision to go back to the drawing board “cost cutting,” but does say it’s about “cost containment” with construction materials alone ballooning 200 to 300 per cent since the pandemic.

In the meantime, corrections officers are continuing to work in a facility well overdue for replacement.

Earle expresses frustration that no progress has been made since the Decades of Darkness report was released back in 2008.

He says a lack of action is having an impact on recruitment and retention because of the working environment.

The province’s opposition parties are less than impressed with government’s decision.

PC critic Barry Petten says the situation reinforces his views on how government has been managing P3 projects over the last number of years.

Petten says he raised concerns about the situation two years ago when he asked government to retender the contract because it was down to a sole-source bidder.

He notes other concerns with P3 projects over the years, including with the Western Memorial Hospital.

Petten says government’s track record shows that it is failing to manage P3 projects.

NDP leader Jim Dinn is disappointed to see the project facing yet another delay.

Dinn believes government is saying “trust us, we’re going to get it right,” which he likens to Lucy in the old Peanuts cartoons saying she won’t haul the football away when, at the last second, does so as Charlie Brown tries to kick it.