Ontario Premier Doug Ford was in Brockville, Ont., for the second time in a week on Thursday — this time to announce the construction of two new correctional facilities, and expansions to two existing institutions in eastern Ontario.
Ford was joined by Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, the MPP for Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes Steve Clark, along with local mayors for the announcement at the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional & Treatment Centre Thursday afternoon.
In June, the province pledged $500 million over five years to modernize correctional facilities in Ontario, along with 500 new correctional jobs.
On Thursday, the province announced that part of this investment will bring a new Greater Ottawa Correctional Complex to be based in Kemptville, and a new jail in Brockville, which will replace the Brockville Jail, the oldest jail in Ontario.
The province will also be expanding the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre as well as the Quinte Detention Centre. Through these expansions, both facilities will be able to offer expanded services to female inmates, according to Jones.
“Our correctional systems is out of date and insufficient, we must and we will do better,” Jones said.
The new facilities and the expansions to the existing detention centres are meant to improve staff safety and overcrowding issues, and offer more space for contemporary programming, Jones said.