Following the opening of Haney Correctional
Institution, several administrative changes
occurred. Administration of the Haney Camp
Work Project was transferred to Warden
Nelson at Haney Correctional Institution in
September. It continued as a pre-release camp
until November. Deteriorated buildings of the
camp wete then vacated and the men were
transferred to a unit in the institution.

This unit became the pre-release unit. It
represented a divergence from other pre-release
units in British Columbia due to its placement
within the institution. The advantage was that
all resources of the institution were available to
the unit. In September 1957, administrative
responsibility of Gold Creek Camp was also
transferred to Haney Correctional Institution.

With Haney Correctional Institution in place,
there was an attempt by the government of
British Columbia to relocate trainees of New
Haven Borstal Institution to the Haney area.
They could then benefit from the facilities at
Haney Correctional Institution, and fulfil a
recommendation made by the B.C. Gaol
Commission. Unexpectedly, a protest was
launched against this move with support from
CKNW radio station.

The following letter from the president of the
radio station, Frank A. Griffiths, was addressed
to the attorney general:

In recent days, we at Radio Station
CKNW, have become aware of an
increasing feeling by the people of the

Lower Mainland that the removal of the
New Haven Borstal Institute to the vicinity
of the Haney Correctional Institute is not
in the best interests of the trainees of New
Haven. To confirm this, we enquired as to
the opinions of our listeners on the subject,
and this we did on our “Fiesta” programme,
which runs for four hours daily, through
the morning and afternoon. During the
time the programme was on the air, and for
hours afterwards, our telephone lines were
plugged with calls from citizens expressing
dismay at the Government’s decision to
close down New Haven and remove the
trainees to the vicinity of the Haney
Correctional Institute.

We, in British Columbia, are justly proud
of the outstanding success which has been
achieved at New Haven in the past ten
years, Over 500 youthful offenders have
received Borstal training, and New Haven
has attained a rehabilitation record of 80%.
Other penal systems, including the most
advanced in the United States, are happy to
rehabilitate from 30% to 50%.

Supported by the opinions of experts in the
field and the feelings of the citizens of this
area, we, at Radio Station CKNW, must
conclude that it is for the future good of
this Province to retain, for now, the New
Haven Borstal Institute in its present

form.!¢

16 Letter published in the British Columbian newspaper, February 10, 1958.

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