Crisis in Corrections

By Alex Seggewiss, Local 715, inSolidarity Committee Member Disclaimer: This article discusses mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues or thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please seek professional help immediately. Resources such as Boots on the Ground (1-833-677-BOOT) are available 24/7 for support. You are not...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2024 TORONTO – OPSEU/SEFPO leaders are speaking out in order to provide much-needed context in response to media reports about an Institutional Crisis Intervention Team (ICIT) deployment at Maplehurst Correctional Complex following an unprovoked, severe assault on a correctional officer in December 2023. The assault on the correctional officer took...

Content warning: This post contains mention of suicide. OPSEU/SEFPO correctional workers are facing a mental health crisis. Since October 2021, at least nine of our correctional bargaining unit members have lost their lives to suicide. These deaths are tragic – and can be prevented if our members have access to more robust mental health supports....

During this year’s annual Correctional Services Staff Recognition Week (the first week of May), we recognize the important contribution to public safety made by correctional workers across Ontario. OPSEU/SEFPO represents members who have dedicated their careers to working with adults and youth in conflict with the law, in adult correctional institutions, youth centres, adult probation...

Click here to download this notice in PDF format. The Ministry of the Solicitor General was wrong to directly assign former managers into newly-created “correctional supervisor” positions in the OPSEU/SEFPO Correctional Bargaining Unit without competitions open to OPSEU/SEFPO Correctional Bargaining Unit members, according to a recent Grievance Settlement Board (GSB) decision. Click here to read...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 6, 2023 TORONTO – Dozens of OPSEU/SEFPO correctional workers and OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick are at Queen’s Park today with a message for MPPs: To fix the crisis in corrections, hire more permanent staff and build better infrastructure. The correctional staff work in adult correctional institutions, youth facilities, adult probation and...

OPSEU/SEFPO correctional workers will be caring for their communities by raising money for local charities during the sixth annual Corrections Cares Week, February 25-March 8, 2023. Correctional workers don’t just work in their communities – they live in them and care deeply about them. They know that helping the most vulnerable people in their midst...

For immediate release TORONTO – OPSEU/SEFPO welcomes the report of the Chief Coroner’s Expert Panel on Deaths in Custody – “An Obligation to Prevent” – and supports the implementation of their recommendations. “We applaud the challenging work the expert panel did to review the circumstances of deaths in custody and speak with impacted families and...

For Immediate Release SUDBURY – The staff of Cecil Facer Youth Centre (CFYC) learned this week that the 16-bed facility will close down two years from now, forcing Sudbury area youth in custody to move hours away from their families and communities. The news is devastating for the staff of the facility who have dedicated...

The CBC is reporting that a review of conditions at the South West Detention Centre in Windsor has identified problems with overcrowding, discrimination and poor management practices. The review was conducted by the Centre for Conflict Resolution International and paid for by the Ministry of the Solicitor General. Among its findings, the report said senior...

The Windsor Star is reporting that a workplace review of the South-West Detention Centre in Windsor has uncovered a culture of discrimination and unfair treatment, with leadership problems severe enough to cause staff shortages. The review took place from September to November and involved interviews with more than 350 employees, including jail staff and management...

The Ottawa Citizen has published a letter written by Chad Oldfield, MERC co-chair of OPSEU/SEFPO’s Correctional Bargaining Unit. Oldfield was responding to an article the Citizen published on April 21, picked up by Sun Media, on the circumstances surrounding the beating death of Bill Renwick by a cellmate at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. In his...