The former Tory MPP for Bruce Grey Owen Sound says it’s a slap in the face of rural Ontario.
Bill Murdoch has long criticized politicians and bureaucrats for having a GTA mindset — and he says the decision to close the Owen Sound and Walkerton jails is just another example of that.
The two jails closed on the weekend and staff from the Ministry of Correction Services began decommissioning the facilities on Monday.
Murdoch never thought the Owen Sound jail would close — especially since there is a new courthouse in the City.
Murdoch says he thought the last jail fight was back in the late 1990’s when his own Conservative government tried to close the Owen Sound jail.
But Murdoch notes then Minister Bob Runciman reviewed the data and changed his mind after Murdoch called for his resignation.
Murdoch feels there is no one strong enough in the Liberal government to stand up to the bureaucrats who don’t know rural Ontario and are making these suggestions.
All of the inmates at the Owen Sound and Walkerton jails have been moved to other facilities in the province.
