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By: Randy Richmond
LONDON, ONT. — Ontario is adding hundreds of beds and staff to the province’s jail system in what the Progressive Conservative government is touting as a significant effort to improve community safety.
But there was no word on whether programs to rehabilitate inmates before they return to those communities would also be expanded.
“Our government is taking action to make one of the most significant correctional capacity increases in our province in many years,” Solicitor General Michael Kerzner announced at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) in London on Monday.
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More than 630 additional beds and up to 200 more staff will be added to Ontario’s adult correctional centres, he said.
Those staff could include correctional, nursing and support staff, Kerzner added.
Although the announcement touted the opening of new beds, about 400 of those beds were used in the past.
The government is reopening and repurposing the 110 beds at the Regional Intermittent Centre in London and the 320 beds at the Toronto Intermittent Centre at the Toronto South Detention Centre.
The centres were designed for people serving weekend sentences for less severe crimes, but the province announced in 2021 the centres were being shut down and more inmates would be placed under GPS monitoring systems.
The centres will be re-opened by 2026 and house minimum- and medium-risk inmates, the province announced.
The province is also adding 18 new beds at the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, bringing the institution’s capacity to more than 300 beds, and will more than double capacity at the new Brockville Correctional Complex by adding 184 new beds, Kerzner announced.
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The building of the Brockville complex and a new jail in Kemptville were announced in 2020.
The expansion announced Monday will “feature spaces to support mental and health services, inmate programming, and staff training, all things that can help reduce the risk of recidivism and help break the cycle of criminal behaviour,” Kerzner said.
But asked later if the province was adding programming or resources for inmates, Kerzner couldn’t provide a clear answer.
“I’m happy to carry a message that public safety matters to people in our communities. To the people stealing our cars, committing criminality, and all the violent and repeat offenders, we will lock you up,” he said at first.
When asked again, Kerzner said he’s met with support staff across the province.
“I’ve met with the chaplains. I’ve met with the Native Inmate Liaison Officers. I’ve met with the program directors to ensure that we’re providing the supports we need,” he said.
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Since 2009, 22 inmates at EMDC have died and coroner’s inquests have revealed the prevalence of drugs and overdoses in the system.
Asked how the new resources would prevent deaths or drug smuggling, Kerzner said the Conservative government has made “record investments” in corrections, including hiring more than 2,000 correctional officers over the past few years.
“When the Liberals were in office, they brought the correctional system, they brought public safety to its knees,” he said.
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