If the proposed McGuinty government plan to close the Walkerton and Owen Sound Jails is implemented, Huron, Bruce and Grey County communities will be affected. With no local jail left in the vast Mid-Western Ontario region, policing costs and taxes will rise as local offenders will be transported to Penetang's 1,184-bed 'super' jail.

There will also be further OPP transport costs to truck these offenders back and forth on a daily basis for local courts in Walkerton, Owen Sound and Goderich. The closure of the Walkerton Jail does not make any fiscal, operational, environmental or geographic sense.

The McGuinty government first announced in the March 29^th, 2011 Ontario budget the closing of three local jails in Owen Sound, Walkerton and Sarnia. It did so without any consultation or discussion with local elected representatives or members of the Institutional Services Division.

There was no detailed cost analysis of this decision performed. The main “savings” come from cutting Correctional Service costs while adding OPP costs. Originally, the government thought this decision would save overall tax dollars, but it won’t.

There are several problems with this decision. The biggest is distance. About half of inmates at the Walkerton Jail attend Goderich Court, which is 243 kms (3-1/2 hours) from Penetang. The Walkerton Court is 168 kms (2-1/2 hours) from Penetang.

The mandate of the Walkerton and Owen Sound Jails is to service Huron, Bruce and Grey Counties by being located in a strategic, geographical location which is central to area courts, police, lawyers, Probation and Parole, rehabilitative resources, mental health workers, native counselors, the offenders and their families.

The main focus of our local jails is on remand offenders who are going through the court process, inmates serving short sentences, and intermittent offenders who serve mostly weekend sentences. Most sentenced inmates serving longer terms are already transferred to Penetang, where school, programs and economies of scale exist.

The McGuinty government originally painted the Walkerton Jail as “inefficient” and “under-utilized”. They also claimed that the Walkerton Jail needed “$800,000 in repairs” to stay open and that the daily inmate costs were “more than $275 per inmate per day”.

However, none of these statements are true. The fact is, the Walkerton Jail is the most cost-efficient and structurally sound of all the smaller jails in the Western Region of Ontario. MPP Carol Mitchell, MPP Jim Bradley (Corrections Minister) and premier McGuinty have all refused to take the tour to see for themselves.

Despite what the government has publicized, our daily inmate costs at the Walkerton Jail based on inmate “custody” days are about $200 per day. Penetang's daily inmate costs are about $140 per day.

Because we house about 80% remand and intermittent inmates, while Penetang “warehouses” about 80% sentenced inmates, our mandates, efficiencies and costs while both being important, are different. It should be noted that with OPP inmate transport costs included, remand offenders from our area who need to attend court, CANNOT be housed in Penetang for $140 per day.

Another barrier to these proposed jail closures is the affect to local community based programs and resources. The intermittent (weekend) sentence program available for 30-35 local inmates, who serve their weekend sentences while maintaining local employment, will be severely affected or eliminated. This could have further social costs.

Inmate rights to lawyers, Legal Aid, bail hearings and a fair and speedy trial will be jeopardized. The Crystal Meth Task Force, Probation and Parole, mental health workers, native counselors and others that partner with the Walkerton Jail, courts and the community will all be seriously affected.

Many of these programs took years to establish. The government focus over the years has been to target addictions, mental health, recidivism (re-offending) rates and social costs. These jail closures if implemented will devastate these social programs that benefit our communities.

In summary, these local jails with interconnected resources are a vital part of our communities and need to stay open until a detailed, informed analysis can be completed, with discussion and input from local officials and all stakeholders of the Justice System in Grey, Bruce and Huron Counties.

With no other jails in the area, why disrupt this vital local service if there are no tax savings? If replacing these older jails is the goal, a new, more cost-efficient regional remand centre serving all three Counties could be a future solution.

Only Carol Mitchell and her Liberal government can reverse this bad decision.  If you would like more information, check Facebook  "Save our Jails".  If you are concerned, you can write, fax or email your MPP Carol Mitchell or call 1-866-396-3007

Paul Spitzig Corrections Officer