The overcrowding and understaffing that OPSEU correctional members have been warning about for years led to the Sept. 14 Correctional Officer hostage-taking at the Kenora Jail, according to The Daily Miner & News.
“Correctional officers predicted the situation at Kenora Jail was ‘ripe for a riot’ if issues including overcrowding and understaffing were not addressed,” writes reporter Reg Clayton.
“Providing better living conditions for inmates isn’t about so much ‘coddling’ prisoners as some would suggest. It’s also about providing better working conditions for corrections officers. As a society we have an obligation to protect those who protect us.”