The union representing Ontario correctional workers has called for an
immediate and thorough examination of what’s happening in the
overcrowded provincial correctional system and its effects on the health
and safety of correctional service workers.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union, called on the McGuinty government to strike a
task force to recommend ways to improve the jail system.
“Workers in the justice system are risking their lives
and health every day,” said Thomas, who toured the Toronto Don Jail last
week with NDP Leader Howard Hampton. “The living conditions are
appalling, with hundreds of inmates crowded into small unventilated
spaces rife with communicable diseases.
“Our jails have also become hotbeds of gang activity,”
said Thomas.
Ontario’s overcrowded jails have become so notorious
that judges regularly apply a “three-for-one” credit, shortening
sentences in proportion to the amount of time offenders have spent
awaiting trial, particularly in the three large detention centres in
Toronto.
Probation and Parole Officers are then forced to
supervise hundreds of dangerous offenders released early into the
community, a huge public safety issue as gang warfare escalates.
Thomas said the task force should examine living
conditions for inmates and working conditions for Correctional Officers
and Probation and Parole Officers, and propose ways to alleviate the
problems.
The task force should examine:
-
Overcrowding and its effects on inmates and
correctional staff;
-
The physical conditions of provincial facilities;
-
Reinstituting programs for inmates, many of which
were cut by the Mike Harris regime;
-
Training for staff on communicable disease control
and identification of gang activity.
“We’ve been working with this system for years and the
problems just seem to get bigger,” Thomas said. “It’s time we had an
independent review of what can be done.”
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