'Bold transformation' of Ontario corrections doesn't include new jails for Sudbury, North Bay

The Ontario government is promising to overhaul the provincial corrections system, but that doesn't include replacing the aging jails in the northeast.

On a heels of a report into the increasingly common use of solitary confinement in provincial jails, the governmentimmediately committed to new policies on segregation and thebuilding ofnew jails in Thunder Bay and Ottawa.

The report does single out Sudbury for having the highest rate of inmates in segregation, with 17 per cent, but in the recommendations, it only suggests that Sudbury and North Bay be brought under the same administrative control.

Both of those jails are nearly 90 years old and the poor conditions in Sudbury, including mold and mice, have led to shorter sentences for some criminals.

John Rimore, the executive director ofthe John Howard Society of Sudbury, says he is confident that Sudbury will get a new jail one day.

"This is not something that's going to happen in the next decade. His recommendation for the Thunder Bay jail alone was three to five years," says Rimore.

"But we will see and I'm sure of this, positive changes even in those jails that need to be retrofitted, that need to be rebuilt."

Rimore says he found the details of the report "disheartening," but called it "glorious" in its recommendations, some of which he feels should have been implemented when first suggested by inmate advocates decades ago.

"That is a very hopeful response from the government, even though they may only have a year and a half left in their mandate, they do not want to put this on a back burner. They do not want it to collect dust," says Rimore.

Sudbury MPP and Energy Minsiter Glenn Thibeaultsaid his government is now launching a review of all infrastructure in the correctional system, including the Sudbury Jail.

"As a strong advocate for Sudbury, I have consistently expressed local concerns about the need for improved correctional infrastructure locally and I will continue to do so throughout the duration of our government's review," he said in a statement.