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Yellow ribbons adorn the trees around the Walkerton Jail

Banner says it all 'A Part of your Community'

The 'distance' required to 'transport prisoners' to court in Walkerton

Concerned employees and citizens turned out to protest the proposed closing of the jails in southwest and central Ontario.

According to sources, the closing of the jails will  "... lead to a black hole in central Ontario ... there will be no jails in the largest geographic area in the Province ... from Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula to Goderich and Sarnia in the south to Walkerton, Owen Sound and north Toronto ..."

Although the continuing reason from the government's side revolves around financial aspects, those on the front line and on the ground disagree and hint at a hidden political agenda.

According to one OPSEU official, the town of Walkerton has a tax break of some $4 million by having the jail and, if that is the case, the ramifications on taxpayers will be dramatic [numbers to be confirmed].

Union employees come out in support

In addition, the Walkerton jail is maintained by the County with a rental from the Province that amounts to approximately $70,000.

The Walkerton jail services not only Walkerton and area but also Goderich, ON, approximately one hour away and Kincardine, 40 minutes away and is situated, literally, feet away from the County Court House.

A senior management official at the jail said that the jail is " ... three quarters full at all times and deals extensively with intermittent sentence servers [those who serve their sentences on weekends because of the small severity of them]."

If the closure goes through, intermittent sentences will mean those serving them will have to travel back and forth to the 'mega-prison' twice weekly (2 - 3 hours travel time each way).

"This whole thing is asinine," says one senior jail guard.  "I think they [province] have lost site of the people who elected them into office and, from this ridiculous decision, also don't care about the people who work hard to provide the best possible services for the community. What are they thinking?

Herding prisoners into a mega-prison, cutting them off from family visitations because many are the poor of society who don't even own a vehicle, cutting them off from social workers who know them and their families ... this is about more than money, this is entirely political!  We have an MPP here who is also the Minister of Rural Affairs (Carol Mitchell) but it is obvious she doesn't give a damn about anything that isn't about agriculture!"

Court House and Jail have been a 'package' since 1867, the year of Confederation

Rally in Walkerton brings out many supporters

Also, according to sources, when the counties were originally formed, each was required under law to have a land registry, a court house and a jail.

Many employees are worried that the closing of the jails is the "tip of the iceberg ... if the jails go what is to stop them from closing the courts and centralizing them?" said one Walkerton citizen.  "This is a demoralizing control over rural communities through the removing of their services."

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Saturday, April 16, 2011