NDP MPPs call on Minister Tibollo to fix London’s provincial jail

On Thursday, local London area NDP MPPs Teresa Armstrong (London-Fanshawe), Peggy Sattler (London West), Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre) and NDP Community Safety and Correctional Services Kevin Yarde critic wrote Doug Ford’s corrections Minister calling for immediate action to increase security and mental health and addictions supports at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre.

Aug. 30, 2018

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
25 Grosvenor Street, 18th Floor, George Drew Building
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1Y6

Dear Minister,

The worsening crisis at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) and corrections facilities throughout Ontario demands immediate action – and the official Opposition is demanding to know what your plan is for corrections.

Last week alone, there were five overdoses at London’s provincial jail. This is in addition to seven overdoses at the facility in the weeks prior. With drugs moving in and out of EMDC, it’s clear that the security of the facility is at risk and the safety of the public, correctional staff and inmates is in jeopardy. Minister, you must act immediately to increase supervision and security at EMDC and invest in mental health and addictions services to make all Ontarians safer.

For years, Londoners and corrections staff warned the Liberal government that the EMDC was overcrowded, short staffed and in dire need of mental health and addictions supports. Since opening in 2007, 13 inmates have lost their lives at EMDC as a result of violence, overdoses, and untreated medical conditions. The bottom line is that EMDCs inability to keep inmates and correctional staff safe puts our entire community in jeopardy.

Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals let the problems in corrections spiral out of control, and families are worried that Doug Ford will make things even worse.

Already, your government has moved backwards on mental health and addiction services, cutting $330 million from mental health funding every year. Many people sent to prison are already grappling with serious addictions in their community. Slashing mental health and addictions funding and then sending people to a facility where they can access drugs is only making things worse. Decades of understaffing and overcrowding at EMDC and too few mental health and addictions resources inside our jails has left correctional officers struggling to catch up, doing all they can with too few resources to stop the flow of drugs into this facility.

And Doug Ford’s pronouncement that he’ll “leave no stone unturned” in his hunt to privatize our public services would send the troubled system deeper into crisis. Ontario families have already paid the price for privatizing corrections with failed public-private-partnership projects like the Toronto South Detention Centre, which was plagued by faulty equipment and shoddy materials, leaving the province on the hook for costly repairs. We don’t need more privatization and less oversight in our correctional system, we need more oversight when it comes to the safe operation and security of our prisons.

Minister, your government’s actions leave families worried about your plans for corrections facilities like the EMDC. Canceling addiction supports and threatening even more privatization will only take our correctional system backward and make things even worse. We need increased staffing and security and immediate investments in addictions treatment – London families have waited long enough.

We hope that this issue receives your immediate attention.

Sincerely,

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Kevin Yarde
NDP Community Safety and Correctional Services critic

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Peggy Sattler
MPP, London West

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Teresa Armstrong
MPP, London-Fanshawe

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Terence Kernaghan
MPP, London North Centre