FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 7, 2000

Private jail won’t get experienced staff - union

PENETANGUISHENE – The province’s first planned private jail won’t be getting any experienced staff to run the facility, an internal union poll reveals.

Corrections Minister Rob Sampson announced in November 1999 that he would be seeking a private operator to run the 1,200 bed superjail under construction in Penetanguishene. It was expected that experienced correctional officers from the facilities the superjail would be replacing would work at the new institution.

But an internal poll conducted by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union has revealed that only 24 staff of those surveyed will work at the facility if a private employer runs it. That’s compared to 175 staff who say they will transfer to the jail if it is operated by the public sector. The poll was conducted at the jails the Penetanguishene facility will replace; Barrie Jail, Parry Sound Jail, Owen Sound Jail, Guelph Correctional Centre and the Burtch Correctional Centre.

"Our members are well aware of the inherent dangers of working in a maximum-security facility," said provincial correctional officer representative Barry Scanlon. "Hardly any of them want to risk their lives in a jail run by a profit-driven corporation. There are just too many opportunities for cutting corners which will endanger lives."

Horror stories about low pay, short staffing, assaults, murders and escapes from private prisons in the U.S. and Great Britain will cause experienced public service correctional officers to quit correctional services rather than take the additional risks associated in a privatized scheme.

"Our members are saying ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to working for a private company," Scanlon said. "Unfortunately, that will leave the town of Penetanguishene with new, inexperienced staff dealing with 1,200 hardened criminals. And they will have Rob Sampson to thank for it."

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For more information: 

Barry Scanlon (416) 562-7252
Don Ford (416) 723-8430