TORONTO – OPSEU president Leah Casselman has called on Ontario Solicitor General and Correctional Services Minister Bob Runciman to convene an emergency meeting to discuss a growing safety crisis in the provincial Probation and Parole Services. (click here to read letter)

The request follows another attack on probation and parole officers by a client. Two probation officers were treated for injuries they suffered Wednesday morning during an assault by a disturbed client at the Queensway Probation office in west-end Toronto.

Casselman demanded that Runciman take full responsibility for the safety of all of his employees in Probation and Parole services. "We have raised the need for more officers, proper training and a safety audit for all probation offices in union management meetings for many years but our concerns have been ignored.

"Are you waiting to attend a funeral of one of your employees before you act? I’m not waiting until it happens to one of my members," she said in a letter to the minister.

Extreme caseloads and a lack of community resources are putting probation and parole officers at risk. The average probation caseload across Canada is 70 compared to 117 in Ontario. But at Toronto’s Keele Street office, for example; the average caseload is 200.

The officers are dealing with exactly the same clientele as the jails but without the power to lock down a violent client and they have no physical protection. The caseload problem is compounded by a reduction in community treatment programs for their clients. "When troubled people cannot access the programs they require they react in unpredictable ways. Our members – your employees – are the target of this volatile behavior," said Casselman.

Casselman has made a commitment to attend the meeting and challenged the minister to do the same.

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For further information:

Katie FitzRandolph (OPSEU Communications) (416) 448-7440

Bill Trbovich (OPSEU Communications) (416) 448-7442

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