The Tory MPP for Huron-Bruce is among a growing number of Opposition politicians taking issue with a provincial government prediction relating to the proposed federal crime bill.
Lisa Thompson says Corrections Minister Madeleine Meilleur’s remarks that Bill C-10 would lead to overcrowded jails doesn’t make sense.
Meilleur says the province’s jails are at 95 per-cent of capacity and that more stringent measures contained in the legislation would add 1,600 inmates in Ontario alone.
The Minister says that would make it necessary to build a new super-jail costing 900-million dollars.
Thompson says Meilleur is using the issue to deflect what she believes is the real issue of the government’s inability to control the provincial deficit.
Thompson dismisses Meilleur’s claim the federal legislation would lead to more overcrowding.
She says the correctional centre in London was already over-capacity when the Walkerton and Owen Sound Jails were closed last year.
Thompson agrees with Sarnia-Lambton Conservative MPP Bob Bailey who expects the upcoming provincial budget to contain plans for two more jail closures.
