The Kitchener area has long been known as Tory country. But not when it comes to compromising public safety.

On Monday, June 5 Kitchener council voted 11-0 against privatized corrections in the province of Ontario. Not only were councillors unanimous in their decision, they also spoke out on the issue at the televised meeting.

Councillor Tom Galloway was very concerned about Corrections Minister Rob Sampson’s journey down the privatization path.

"There may be a place for the privatization of services," Galloway said. "But not when it comes to public health and public safety. There is too much opportunity for compromises to be made, and the bottom line becomes the key operating factor as opposed to the service that is to be provided. We have had a circumstance that has brought that home in Walkerton, a health service that has in part been privatized, and I quite firmly believe that this has been a contributing factor. We don’t want to see this happen in our correctional system."

Other councillors asked questions about the North American Free Trade Agreement, community impact and pay scales in privatized U.S. prisons. One councillor focused on the issue of increased costs for prisoner transport. But it was Councillor Geoff Lorentz who focused on the big issue: accountability.

"When we built this new city hall, we had a long debate on whether to hire our own employees to provide security or contract with a private security firm," Lorentz said. "We decided to hire our own employees, and I believe that has paid dividends. They can think on their feet, and they take pride in what they do."

MERC chair Barry Scanlon made the presentation to council, accompanied by Dennis Berg of Local 230 (Waterloo D.C.). Dennis was amazed at the reception they received from the council. "They were very glad we came in," Berg said. "The councillors knew the issue, and had no problem supporting the motion. I can’t believe it was that easy."

With Kitchener’s support, the number of municipalities supporting public corrections is 79. And a big addition it is, with a population of nearly 200,000.

Get that lovely letter out, Rob!

Despite troubles that have been plaguing the Ministry’s privatized canteen services, officials have refused to entertain improvements submitted by the union.

At the provincial level health and safety committee meeting on June 8, Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee (MERC) chair Barry Scanlon tabled a list of 16 recommendations that would have provided additional security measures for canteen distribution. Almost all of them were flatly rejected.

The recommendations cast aside by senior bureaucrats were:

"I’m extremely disappointed with the outcome," Scanlon said. "I especially wanted to make a case for the drug dog teams. They are one of our most effective tools in drug detection and prevention."

Scanlon went on to say that it has now become obvious that additional security measures must be in place to protect staff and inmates due to privatization. "If canteen functions were still being done by our staff, we wouldn’t be worried," he said. "We wonder why the Ministry seems so reluctant to clamp down on a private company."

And this is the exact reason why the town of Penetanguishene wants nothing to do with private jails.

The information sheets and ballots for the unclassified benefits vote will be mailed to members the week of June 19. Local presidents should also watch their mail, as it will be their responsibility to track down unclassifieds who are not on the OPSEU list. This is an extremely important vote, so make sure you aren’t left out!

All members are reminded to show up at the Mimico/TYAC demonstration on Wednesday, June 14. Corrections critics Peter Kormos (NDP) and David Levac (Liberal) are scheduled to attend. A free barbecue lunch will be provided. Come out from 11 a.m. to noon and show your support.

Members of the corrections division will soon be asked to complete a survey that will give direction to the union on the future of the corrections bargaining unit.

The 2000 Corrections division approved a motion directing the MERC team to have the survey ready for distribution by June 30. The draft of the survey has been completed, and it is expected that the survey will be out prior to the deadline.

Watch for it!

Rumour has it that the Windsor Jail was a lonely place to be last weekend. Apparently, inmates from the jail were cleared out to Elgin-Middlesex in London. This was in anticipation of dozens of arrests at the Organization of American States protest.

Unfortunately for our Corrections Minister, the protesters didn’t turn out to be the hooligans he thought they’d be. Although some arrests were made, no one was admitted to jail. So much for justifying the staff overtime bill. Will you be factoring those costs into Windsor Jail’s per diem rates, Rob?