Premier Wynne Must Address Ontario’s Crisis in Corrections: Brown

QUEEN’S PARK – In front of a legislature packed with Ontario correctional officers, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown asked the Premier about the ongoing crisis in corrections.

“Today we are joined by hundreds of corrections officers and staff from across the province.

They are here to tell you about the growing crisis in corrections. A crisis that this government continues to ignore,” said Brown during Question Period. “The poor quality of Ontario’s jails and their persistent lockdowns are putting corrections officers’ lives at risk.”

The poor quality of Ontario’s jails has contributed to an increased number of staffing-related lockdowns across the province. In 2014, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services recorded 900 lockdowns – a figure which has more than tripled since 2009.

Leader Patrick Brown has visited correctional facilities across the province, including the Thunder Bay jail where a correctional officer was held hostage during one of the aforementioned lockdowns.

“I could not believe that such working conditions could exist in Ontario. The Mayor of Thunder Bay called it a rat hole. The infrastructure in correctional facilities is inadequate in many parts of the province,” Brown added. “Ontario has to give our correctional officers the tools they need to do their job and to keep them safe.”

“Will a corrections officer have to be killed before this government takes the crisis in corrections seriously?”