THUNDER BAY - The announcement by the provincial government to construct modular expansions to the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and the Kenora Jail to address overcrowding is welcomed by the union representing correctional officers at the Thunder Bay District Jail, but the union president says something needs to be done now to address issues of overcrowding.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for a little bit of help and it seems to be on its way and 2022 spring is still a long ways off for help, but we need it now,” said Bill Hayes, president of OPSEU Local 737 and a correctional officer at the Thunder Bay District Jail.
“We are in rough shape. We need help now. We can’t wait until 2022. Although this is really positive news, we need something in the meantime.”
On Tuesday, the provincial government announced plans to build expansions to the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and the Kenora Jail to ease overcrowding in Kenora and the Thunder Bay District Jail.
It will also provide space for additional programming relating to literacy and skills development.
Minister Greg Rickford said the expansion is part of the governments $500 million strategy to improve corrections in the province.
“Kenora and Thunder Bay have come into play at the front end of this in the strategy because of serious issues with overcrowding and the safety of correctional officers and offenders in those two facilities,” he said.
The provincial government is filing for an environmental assessment for the two expansions, which Rickford said will be modular in nature and completed in spring 2022.
There is no confirmed number of new beds the expansions could provide, but Rickford said in Kenora alone there could be 50 additional beds for inmates.
There are currently 142 inmates at the Thunder Bay District Jail, with numbers steadily rising since August. According to the Ministry of the Attorney General, the capacity at the Thunder Bay District Jail is 149, with capacity at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre of 132, and the Kenora Jail at 105.
Hayes said inmates are being kept four to a cell and being housed in interview rooms and visitation areas because there is no more space. New COVID-19 isolation units are also limiting the amount of living space available.
“We are almost at capacity without the COVID units. With the COVID units, we are beyond capacity,” he said. “Hopefully with these new facilities it should ease some pressure off this facility right now. We are bursting at the seams. We are well over capacity again with no room for intake inmates.”
There have been ongoing calls for a new correctional facility in the region and the Ford government recommitted to an earlier Liberal government plan to build a new facility.
A request for proposal for the new facility, which has an estimated cost between $299 million and $499 million, is being prepared and is expected to be released in early 2021, but Hayes is worried that the proposed expansion to the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and the Kenora Jail means that project is still years away from completion.
“That’s a big concern,” he said. “Are they just building these temporary facilities to drag this new build to 2030. Who knows?”
Rickford said he is not aware of any delays in the timeline to build the new jail, adding that these kinds of facilities take time and the expansions will help ease the pressure until the new jail can be built.
“This facility is not going to be built overnight and there is a pressing and substantial need in Thunder Bay and Kenora. No one disputes that,” he said. “These facilities, these state of the art ones take time to build and these are not distracting from that. This is the right thing to do until that facility can be built.”
The announcement by the provincial government also followed an extensive investigative report into conditions at the Thunder Bay District Jail by the Globe and Mail.
According to Hayes, correctional staff deal with incidents on a daily basis, with inmates being transported to hospital for treatment nearly every second day.
“As the count rises, so does the violence,” he said. “It just goes hand in hand. I wouldn’t say major incidents, but we have incidents every day. It’s an on going concern. Everyday there is something going on here.”
Hayes added the Thunder Bay District Jail needs at least 35 additional casual employees to help handle the situation inside.
Hayes is also welcoming the additional programming as part of the expansions to the facilities in Thunder Bay and Kenora to help reduce the likelihood of inmates reoffending.
“The lack of programming is why we are seeing this increase in incarceration in the city,” he said.
“We are not helping these people, we are just storing them and then releasing them back to the lifestyle that brought them there in the first place. It is just keeping the addiction cycle going and that in turn increases crime rates.”
