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Whitby Free Press, 18 Sep 1996, p. 1

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World.hon( for Durha board 3ur Pulc oimon ior.fr pae 3 worger 3 Mi'.rgtg arthritis, Broughtôân pae ~1Iio ITj Tmake way fr %SarIn aitoecs <By 111ke Kowalsi Ontario'a penal system ig the lateat gvernment Ber. vice tofeethe -impact of Soicitor General and Correctional Services Minister Bob Runciman announced last week that Whitby Jail and 13 other institutions . will clos e within the next three years, T'he 14 jails wilI be rep14- ced by. two Ifarge "Spartan" facilities te "be constructed' north'and east of Metropc>- litan Toronto at, sites yet te be determined. In addition, the province will be expanding% and/or renovating three other jails ini the, Metro area. The cost cf building the new "super-jails" and enhancing the exisating faci- lities is estimated at $230 te $250 million. Design and construction costs are expeted te be recovered itnfour years as the changes are proe- ted te save $75 te $80 million annually in, operat- Ifthsough as many as 1,400 correctional omAcer- jobs may be lost as a resuit oftihe.closure, te ministry is hnopeful that attrition wnill keep the number of layoffs te as few as possible. . Mea taxpa"Yer, its about president of Loca 3-9 the Ontario Public Service Employees Union which represents approximately 100 unionized Whitby Jafl workers. "This should have beén done years ago. These are old places and its created a lot of- problems between staff and management,» said Tefoglou. Built ini 1959 te hold 50 ~oners, Whitby Jail has expanded over the years te where it can now accommodate 120 maie and eight female immates. luBt my concern is were paym gteie in- job cuts said Tei lu «ýeil be placed i n a posi- tion where we have-man- power s hortages and be top heavy with management » he said. Concems about super-jails see page 13 Even though the xinistrýy. insista that more efficient building tsignand advan-. cdsecurity technology wvill enable. more offenidestoéb 'Supervýsdb *feïWer guar Tefoglu 1a i kpcL theytM abutl20to 1,500 prisoners and it could go over 2,000,» he said. Ulmagne 2,000 inmates riotingIf you have no staff, who do you caîl in?" Ministry spokesperson Rosa Virgo aaid the terin USpartan was specifically chosen te refleet what p i- soners can expect to find in the newjails. "Were not talldng about increased amenities for in- mates or any kind of over- aIl 'imjrovementa for in- mates,» aaidVirgo. "I think the point we want to mace is that this is not hein g done for the crea- ture comfort of the inmates, it's beinq done for savinga and efficxiency,» he said., 'Ibis will allow us te redistribute bed space in the system and relieve crewded conditions in cen- WHITBY JI 1 tral and southern Ontario an 'di the Golden Horse- 3shoe.» 'A 1 y000-bed facility will be constructed north cf the Metro Toronite area and a 1 2Q0-bed institution east of l~etr_7 Virgo siaid the latter i'vll be built in the area now served by jails In Whitby, CobugIÀndsay,- Peter- borough and Millbr;ookbut. could not be more specifwc about the location sime the' site selection procesahas uat beg un. poes As for »tîi. -exiting jailé .the miidstry will work with the affected municipalities te identify alternative uss if Ïfeasie for the buildings, ,Iec4-ctonal system eoverhaul did, not ait well with Whýitby Mayor Tom Zdwards, who said hisfiriset knwege of the govern mnt'à 'intentions came from a telephone caîl about one hour before'Runcmn'sW announceement. Even .though different ofrîciaIs ýand,'- inistries were, involved, Edwarda said the short notice runs contrary te a promise Municipal Affaira-Minister __ AI, Leach made at, last year's Association of Muni- cipahitie* of Ontario con- ferenoe. <'Me said matters of this kind wouldn't be under- At n l taken without consultin~ with local municipalities, KRNSJ said Edwards. <'Until this morning (Monday), the only informa- tien ]Nve received1is froni the media.» In addition-te hein g dis-g pleased by the lack cf con- an sultation, Edwards is un- happy with the pending 'Y bos of more than 100 jobs. "'I know there'a been. a SEE PAGE 13 5,000 a More than 5,000,people attended last Sundaei& cMi cial opening cf the *htby y MentalRFeaIth Centre. Hoa talspokeseIe.ran ors were stilI arriving heyond the scheduled 8 P.m. closing cf the $90- million faceility's, open house. "twas extremoly succèsaful, we were most pleased wi!th evrythin&"; said Stewart. wThis did a great deai for, promtin mental health care and now the public - feels it cat corne ifor other .ven$ *and feel cern- opening forae. 1Ontario elhMnqe Jim Wilon Dra Centre MP ui Flahert and Whitby Mayor- Tom Edwards were among the many dignitaries taikinjg part i the festivities. '?oday>s opening marks the final sta«e in the Whitby redeve cpm= nt ii itiative »sa dWlsn stateý-of-thè-art techxiology the latest, in design, fea-',ý taressud, improvementahi inplaiient and .outpatlent Progrw te0 - ýquit. amwply "before a trustee releasesa contreveratal statetnient, he or she shahl endeavour, if possible as 'a courtesy» te inferni tle board chair, any committee chair directly in- volved with -the' issue and an rste.' whose area/ acool is affected.*» (It oni- ginally reaid » ... he or she, as a, courtesy, ia expected te inform ... » hefore it. was amended.) The o ther two el ausea of the protocol calbed on trus- tees te talc. a workshop on Roberts' Rules of Order and directed that agendas he made available te trustees Friday but net te the rs .and public until noon Mn ea Roberts Rules recom.- mendation passed easily but the othertwo generated almost two heures-of heated debate. <'Tus whole (comnmunica- tions protocol) committee came- about because I released information te the public on achool closures,' said Oshawa trustee Kath- leen Hopper. tsi about goe m pers... I think it's about intimida- tion, I think it'a about con- troll I think it's about dis- cipline... <'F I make a -controversial statement because r m try- ing te informm y c onsi- tuents about scmething that I lcnow is very press- igis of intereat te, them sui is timnel,, lil doit.- ' "I- don't apologize fer deing, it with the schàplj closure issue and*if I have te do it again, I will - and l'il de -it again--and again and again. »- How do>rou define <'con- troversial, wondered'Pick- erig ruse.Susan Kular, edding that what is 'con- aidered controversial by one trusteemay not hei by su'other. SE PAGE 4 12 No eximus rom

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