To the editor:
I have read with great interest the recent articles concerning the Thunder Bay District Jail and especially the meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne and local correctional staff.
Some of the things I read are factual and some are not. I have an informed and experienced opinion as I was a senior manager, deputy superintendent and young offender manager at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre from 1989 until I retired in 2007.
I started my career in corrections in 1975 at the Guelph Jail. It was built in 1858 so I have experienced working in an old building.
Thunder Bay District Jail was opened in 1926 and although it had an administrative addition built in the 1990s and had many upgrades in terms of its internal infrastructure, it’s still a 1926 building.
The cells, the bars, the original night lock for cells (which still worked in 2007), the segregations cells, including one special cell that housed those awaiting the death penalty when it was still in effect. This cell is still in use today.
Throughout my career older jails in most parts of Ontario, excluding the north, were replaced by regional detention centres and more recently by the super jails and now the mega jails.
Thunder Bay was slated for a smaller version of these, maybe 300 beds, in the late 1990s and early 2000, but due to deficits and changing political realities, the city was bypassed.
Thunder Bay received a regional hospital and now a $200-million courthouse instead.
I know this, because I was there.
Three to a cell and a head by a toilet, I dealt with that. Just ask the ombudsman office or anyone who required protective custody in jail. Mental-health issues, I dealt with that. I sat on the many local committees dealing with staff from the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital on this issue.
Many still work there.
Substance abuse and addictions, I dealt with that. The type of drugs may have changed, but the addiction is still there. Over-representation of First Nations offenders, especially women, I dealt with that.
But I dealt with those issues in the 1990s and 2000s. Premier Wynne, this is 2014. I thought I would see a new correctional facility built on Highway 61 at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre during my career. That was the location chosen. It didn’t happen.
The female unit was closed at Thunder Bay District Jail only as a result of a suicide of a female offender in custody and a coroner’s inquest.
I know this because I testified for six hours at the inquest at the Government Building on Red River Road.
The local Elizabeth Fry Society at the time, a great group of volunteers and those who I enjoyed working with and have a great deal of respect for, were of great assistance. They monitored what the Ministry of Correctional Services was doing at the time and kept them in check.
There were many pending inquests into the deaths of First Nation offenders who died in custody. They are on hold and although I know details, I will not comment.
Jails and those who break the law are not popular for most of the public, but they should be. That is why I choose now to advocate for them.
Thunder Bay was shortchanged then and it is now. It is time for our two cabinet ministers to step up. I am sure Michael Gravelle and Bill Mauro have advocated for a new facility. I have dealt with both of them personally during my years in corrections and during my years a director and president of the local John Howard Society of Thunder Bay and District. This is another great organization that deals with and advocates for those in conflict with the law.
It is time for the citizens of Thunder Bay to step up. I am asking all my fellow citizens and friends to reflect. Thunder Bay needs a modern and up-to-date correctional facility that is safe and meets the needs of the dedicated staff working to provide services and supervision of those in custody. This enhances public safety for Thunder Bay and District. That is the issue that is what I’m advocating for.
Michael Coons,
Thunder Bay
