It appears Ontario New Democrats may have jumped the gun on declaring an “indefinite delay” on building a new jail in Thunder Bay.
Shawn Bradshaw is the Ontario Public Service Employees Union representative for local corrections workers and confirms “there is no delay.”
“I’ve been assured by the executive director of the corrections portfolio that they’re still committed to the project and it’s still moving forward through designs of the RFP (request for proposals) process,” says Bradshaw.
The OPSEU official believes it was an administrative issue on the website which caused the confusion.
Last week the Ontario NDP declared an indefinite delay in the construction of the jail based on information they saw on an Infrastructure Ontario web page.
Bradshaw indicates he is hosting meetings which have been gathering input on the next stages of planning for a new facility.
The Ford government has already committed itself to build the new 325-bed complex, which would combine the current Thunder Bay District Jail on MacDougall Street and the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre out on Highway 61.
