TORONTO - Correctional facilities holding Ontario’s most troubled and most
dangerous young offenders are about to be privatized, likely on Monday, Jan. 24, the
Ontario Public Service Employees Union has learned.
"Privatization is a disaster for the youth correctional system," said OPSEU
President Leah Casselman, a youth correctional officer. "The record shows that
privately-run facilities are more dangerous, more costly, and less accountable than those
under direct control of the Minister.
"It is a bitter joke that this government, which claims to be tough on crime, is
reducing supervision of young offenders facilities," she said.
Casselman’s own workplace, the maximum-security Syl Apps Youth Centre in Oakville,
is on the list of facilities to be privatized. The other four are London’s
maximum-security Genest Detention Centre, Toronto’s maximum-security York Detention
Centre, the Sault Ste. Marie Observation and Detention Centre, and Project Dare, in South
River.
The Harris government’s record on privatizing Young Offenders facilities has been
a three-pronged fiasco, Casselman noted.
In August, 1997, two teens escaped from Camp Turnaround, near Orillia. Rather than
terminate the contract, the Corrections Ministry gave the private operator $380,000 to
improve security.
In March, 1999, the Ministry of Community and Social Services sold off the Arrell Youth
Centre in Hamilton and the William E. Hay Centre in Ottawa. At Arrell, all but five of the
experienced staff resigned rather than work for the private operator. Now, "the kids
are running the place," ON-TV has reported. Although staff salaries plunged by
$10,000 a year, the Ministry increased the private operator’s budget by $300,000,
from $2.2 million to $2.5 million.
Meanwhile, taxpayers continue to pay the full cost of keeping the William E. Hay Centre
open even though it now sits nearly empty.
Privatization will also destroy the Young Offenders Services Information System,
Casselman said. YOSIS is the only formal information system that allows for tracking and
continuity of care between probation officers, clinicians, and front-line correctional
workers.
"It’s rather bizarre that the government is setting up a new system to track
sex offenders and demolishing a system to track young offenders," said
Casselman.
"All the evidence says that privatization of these facilities is a huge
mistake," she said. "They are taking the most stable part of the system and
ripping it to pieces. This is the end of accountability."
In 1997, the Ontario provincial auditor said the province had no way of knowing if
agencies outside the Ontario Public Service were meeting provincial standards or not. The
auditor said there was a "weak accountability relationship between the Ministry and
its transfer payment agencies."
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