There is another call for Queen’s Park to start construction of the promised new Thunder Bay Jail.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, representing corrections’s officers in the province, points to the Ontario Ombudsman’s scathing report on the state of Ontario corrections.
President Warren Thomas notes “Things get worse at the jail by the day” and urges the government to “get those shovels in the ground now.”
Another OPSEU official, Chris Jackel explains “As it stands right now, Thunder Bay jail is no place to work or live, and certainly not to get a new start on life.”
The current jail on MacDougall Street was completed in 1928 with a capacity for 125 beds.
The union adds corrections staff members have roundly criticized the existing structure for its overcrowded, dilapidated conditions and unsuitability foreven basic rehabilitation programming.
On April 26, the Progressive Conservative government announced it would proceed with construction of a new 325 bed facility.
