Bruce Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker is going to try one more time to keep the jails in Owen Sound and Walkerton open.
Walker met with Owen Sound Mayor Deb Haswell and Owen Sound Chief of Police Bill Sornberger on Wednesday in a meeting at the Mayor’s office.
Mayor Haswell says they talked for about an hour, with the resolution that Walker will bring the issue up in the Legislature when it resumes sitting November 21st.
Even though the province has set December 4th as the closure date, Haswell says she’s not ready to throw in the towel until the lock is on the door.
However, she says it is very important they talk about what will happen if the jails close.
She admits it’s frustrating trying to have these talks, because it seems they are being ignored by Premier Dalton McGuinty when they request information.
Haswell says the Owen Sound Police can’t even create a budget because there has been zero dialogue from the Ministry of Correctional Services.
She says they know OPP will be responsible for providing prisoner transport, but they’re still in the dark as to what will be needed for courthouse security, and where prisoners will stay if they’re still at the courthouse after it closes for the day.
Haswell says the police can’t just lock up prisoners in a van in the parking lot, so they need to know the costs associated with keeping them in the Owen Sound Police force’s holding cells.
She says it’s making rural parts of Ontario feeling left out in the cold just because we’re outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
She says it’s time the government realize we count and have important needs.
