One Brockton official has some hope to stop the closure of the jails in Walkerton and Owen Sound.
Brockton Councillor Chris Peabody met with Huron Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell and OPSEU members on Friday.
OPSEU members may have left the meeting discouraged and frustrated, but Brockton Councillor Chris Peabody has a much different take.
Peabody calls it ‘a very good meeting’ in which MPP Carol Mitchell listened to their concerns and seemed very willing to look at the numbers again.
Peabody says they were able to make their case that the jail only requires 90 thousand dollars in upgrades, not the 800 thousand reported by the Ministry.
Peabody adds the 90 thousand dollars in upgrades could be carried out over a three year period.
He says Mitchell is now going to take these numbers back to Toronto to see what she can do with her Liberal government.
Peabody calls it the first real glimmer of hope he’s seen since the announcement of the jail closure.
Peabody is confident Mitchell will fight for the people of Huron Bruce.
In the meantime Mitchell has requested a stronger resolution from Bruce County in support of the Walkerton jail.
But the OPSEU local President at the Walkerton jail Gerry Hope is much less optimistic.
Hope says unless there is a huge amount of pressure placed on the government, the closure of the Walkerton jail is a done deal.
Both Peabody and Hope encourage residents to continue to lobby their provincial elected officials including the Premier’s Office to keep the Walkerton Jail opened.
