OPSEU/SEFPO Correctional Bargaining Unit leaders spoke with numerous media outlets over the past week regarding Ontario’s overcrowded, understaffed jails which are forced far beyond capacity or safe staffing levels.OPSEU/SEFPO members are an intricate part of the justice system, doing their part every day to keep communities safe. In order for the upcoming provincial and federal government’s proposed bail reform legislations to be successful, urgent staffing and infrastructure investments into Ontario’s correctional system are required.In addition to this, Correctional leaders spoke about the mental health crisis amongst correctional workers.Chad Oldfield, Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee (MERC) co-Chair, addressed the long-standing Crisis in Corrections and the chronic overcrowding in Ontario’s correctional institutions when speaking with
CBC News:
“The truth is that we don’t really have any space. We don’t have anywhere to put people. It really does highlight what we have been ringing the alarm bells on. It’s highlighting a system that’s at a breaking point, right? We’re in crisis.”
Adam Cygler, Ministry Employee Relations Committee (MERC) member, responded to the government’s recent claim that it has hired thousands more correctional institution staff when speaking with
CBC Sudbury:
“When [the province says] they hired 2,500 people, it’s not new positions, it’s not full-time positions. The vast majority of those are correctional officers at the start of their careers who are coming in on that contract basis. It’s like saying, ‘We’ve got 30 per cent more students in school and we’ve hired 2,000 substitute teachers.’ That might be a temporary solution, but it’s not permanent.”
Josh Miller, Local President at Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre, spoke with
CBC Sudbury about rising violence within correctional institutions as a result of overcrowding and insufficient staffing, noting:
“Jails are tense places. When you pack people into a space made for half the number of people actually living there, tensions go up. As tensions go up, violence increases.”
Ken Steinbrunner, Local President at Monteith Correctional Complex, discussed how insufficient funding in relation to the rising overcrowding directly impacts the working and inmate conditions in jails:
“Anytime we exceed our [certified capacity], we exceed our budget for food. We exceed our available time for recreation… We’re constantly over, so we’re constantly under on services.”
Read the full round-up of articles and listen to the radio clips below discussing the systemic issues within Ontario’s correctional system.
News media
Global News:
Contraband in Ontario’s jails ‘flows like gravy’ as capacity concerns growCBC:
Ontario jails set to hit overcrowding record as bail reform looms, data showsCBC Sudbury:
Northern Ontario jail staff raise alarms over pay gaps, contract hiring and mental healthCBC Sudbury:
Northern Ontario jails among the most overcrowded in the province, new data showsCBC National:
Investigation finds Ontario jails overcrowded with big increase in women prisonersRadio
Ottawa Morning with Rebecca Zandbergen:
Record levels of overcrowding in Ontario jails as province launches bail reformMorning North with Markus Schwabe:
Jails across northeastern Ontario are among the most overcrowded in the provinceMorning North with Markus Schwabe:
Correctional workers across northern Ontario say they are facing a mental health crisisUp North with Jonathan Pinto:
Most northern Ontario jails are overcrowded – here’s an inside perspectiveUp North with Jonathan Pinto:
Issues with Ontario jails go beyond overcrowding, says union for on-correctional staff 