THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay Police Services Board has joined the call for a new district jail in the city.
On Tuesday, the board passed a motion to send a letter to the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney-General asking for the nearly 100-year-old Thunder Bay District Jail to be replaced.
“The current facility desperately needs replacement and it’s important that prisoners have a reasonable place that they are incarcerated,” said Jackie Dojack, chair of the police services board.
“It’s a time of incarceration, but also should be a time when they are assisted to become integrated back into the community. In terms of crime prevention, community safety, this board has a real interest in there being a good facility,” she said.
The jail should have been replaced some time ago, Dojack said, adding that although funding for capital projects can be difficult to obtain, this is a priority for the board.
Fellow board member and Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo toured the facility last month as part of the intergovernmental committee and said he knows there is overcrowding and the jail has exceeded its lifespan.
He said it was also slated for renewal by the province in the early 2000s but the project never moved forward.
“For government to designated that jail to be rebuilt they must have felt it was necessary and it hasn’t happened,” said Virdiramo.
“We feel that it is a facility that needs to be restructured, rebuilt brand new to house the inmates that are … we want people who are incarcerated for whatever reason to get the services they need,” he said, adding the jail needs a rehabilitation component to help people re-enter society once they’ve served their sentence.
Inmates should be incarcerated in a humane manner, Virdiramo said when addressing the board.
“Capital is an issue but we’ll keep pushing for a new jail here in Thunder Bay,” he said.
