Ontario's deputy premier's staff says she won't be touring the troubled jail in her own backyard according to a report by the London Free Press.
As a possible strike by corrections workers and probation officers in Ontario gets closer, London North Centre MPP Deb Matthews has been sent a letter of invitation to tour the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre by Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
"I understand that you have ordered that furniture and provisions be brought into correctional facilities to accommodate managers recruited from the OPS. Their role will be to take the place of correctional officers, should they go on strike," writes Thomas in the letter. "OPS managers recruited as replacement correctional officers cannot acquire the abilities of a qualified correctional officer after – at best – three weeks’ training. These individuals manage IT workers, policy analysts and correspondence writers. They are in no way qualified to supervise the shrewd and violent criminals incarcerated in Ontario’s jails."
Thomas says having managers from other areas of the public service perform the duties of correctional officers will result in lockdowns, which he says will "greatly increase tensions and the risk of violence." He adds this will endanger the lives of the managers and inmates.
The letter also asks Matthews to guarantee in writing that kitchen staff, maintenance workers, and nurses at the jail will not have their safety jeopardized. He says, if that written guarantee isn't offered, he will have no choice but to prevent the members of the OPSEU Unified Bargaining Unit from entering the jail.
Thomas closes his letter to Matthews by reiterating his offer to "tour the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre with you. It would give you a remarkable opportunity to experience at first hand the conditions in which correctional officers work and the issues they grapple with every day."
The corrections workers will be in a legal strike position as of 12:01am Sunday. Talks aimed at averting a strike will be held on Friday.
