More Support Coming For Correctional Officers In Brampton

Published September 20, 2019 at 11:42 am

There is some much-needed support being planned for staff members who work in correctional services.

Recently, Parliamentary Assistant Belinda C. Karahalios met with frontline correctional officers at the North Bay Jail to hear their concerns about staff and inmate safety and wellness supports.

She also provided an update on the government’s work to improve Ontario’s correctional system.

Staff feedback will directly inform the government’s plans to better support frontline officers at institutions across the province.

“Nobody understands the challenges facing our correctional system better than the women and men who work inside the walls of our institutions,” said Karahalios. “We are meeting directly with staff because their perspectives are essential as we improve conditions and make their jobs safer.”

The provincial government says this engagement session is part of the plan to reform and modernize the justice sector and create a system that is more efficient, sustainable and empowers officers on the frontlines.

The government has been conducting engagement sessions at several institutions across the province. These will continue throughout September.

“Our frontline correctional employees do a difficult but vital job, under very challenging conditions,” said Sylvia Jones, the Solicitor General. “For their service and contributions to public safety, we not only thank them but commit to giving them the additional tools and supports they need to keep themselves and all those in our custody safe.”

Recent government action to support correctional staff includes:

New Institutional Security Teams at the Niagara Detention Centre and Toronto East Detention Centre.
Better health and wellness support for correctional officers.
Hiring 65 new correctional officer graduates and 21 new probation and parole officers to increase public safety and help improve our correctional system.
Improving safety and increasing security by adding capacity to the Institutional Crisis Intervention Teams in the province’s Northern adult correctional institutions.
Committing to building a new, modern correctional complex in Thunder Bay.

Further support is still being planned as the engagement sessions continue.

What do you think about more support coming for correctional officers?

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