The State of Jails: 1) Ontario Jail Inmate Numbers Spike In Last Year, Now Well Over Capacity, Data Shows, 2) Ford Promises To Build As Many Jails As Needed To Keep Criminals Behind Bars

1) Ontario Jail Inmate Numbers Spike In Last Year, Now Well Over Capacity, Data Shows

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 6th, 2024

By Liam Casey

Ontario’s jails have seen a dramatic increase in the number of inmates over the past year with the majority of the facilities well over capacity, new data obtained by The Canadian Press shows.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming number of inmates held – 81 per cent, the government said – are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent. 

The data, obtained through freedom-of-information laws, shows the average inmate count and institutional capacity over the past 10 years for the province’s jails. Those institutions hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day.

As of Sept. 30, 2023, there was an average of 8,889 people in provincial jails, well over the 7,848-person capacity. Overall, the jails were operating at 113 per cent capacity at that time.

Most of Ontario’s institutions were over capacity in 2023, the data shows. 

Maplehurst Correction Complex in Milton, Ont., was the most overcrowded last year, with an average inmate population of 1,188 but official capacity for 887 – meaning it was operating at 134 per cent capacity in 2023.

Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London, Ont., was a close second at 133 per cent capacity, with an average 471 inmates while having operational capacity for 353.

South West Detention Centre in Windsor, Ont., was operating at 129 per cent capacity, with 337 inmates but space for only 262 people. 

Criminal lawyers and corrections officers say the overcrowding in jails has led to several problems, including cramped living conditions for inmates and an increase in assaults on correctional officers.

Inmates are triple bunking in single cells in several institutions, said Chad Oldfield, a corrections spokesman for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. 

Correctional officers are increasingly assaulted, he said, and operational stress injuries and post-traumatic stress for the guards is on the rise. 

“We’ve also lost a number of staff who have died by suicide over the last year,” he said. “You’ve got climbing inmate counts and then you’ve got staffing shortages, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”

Correctional officers are third among occupations with approved work-related stress injury claims registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board between 2016 and 2022, WSIB data shows. Only police officers and paramedics have more stress injury claims.

Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who is responsible for Ontario’s jail system, did not answer repeated questions about jail population numbers or the province’s plans to deal with overcrowded institutions. 

Instead, he spoke about hiring 1,000 more correctional officers and touring jails.

“Public safety is a priority, will always be a priority and we have a right to live safely in our communities,” Kerzner said.

Oldfield, of OPSEU, said those 1,000 jobs are contract workers.

The province is building a new 345-bed jail in Thunder Bay, Ont., that will replace the current jail and double its capacity. The government also plans to build a 235-bed jail in eastern Ontario but that project has met opposition from locals, who don’t want to see it built on prime farmland.

Last week, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association released a report that said the country’s bail system had worsened significantly over the past decade. It said the proportion of inmates in jail awaiting trial had reached a record 79 per cent by 2022. 

The Criminal Lawyers Association argued the rise in inmates is due to Crown attorneys opposing more bail, specifically for alleged gun crimes and other serious, violent offences.

That means inmates stay behind bars as defence and prosecution prepare for bail hearings, thereby increasing the jail populations, said Boris Bytensky, president of the lawyers’ association. 

“The positions that Crowns are taking on bail matters are becoming more and more conservative,” Bytensky said.  

The office for Ontario’s Attorney General did not respond to questions about whether the government gave direction to Crown attorneys to oppose more bail applications.

Doug Downey’s spokesperson said the province is investing $112 million over three years to “ensure that high-risk and repeat violent offenders comply with their bail conditions, and prosecutors have the resources to conduct bail hearings.”

“Keeping violent, repeat offenders who commit crime while out on bail behind bars will keep our province safer,” said Andrew Kennedy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a concerted effort to reduce jail numbers when it became clear by April 2020 that the novel coronavirus spread rapidly in congregate settings. 

The average number of inmates dropped to 6,661 in 2020, from an average of 8,049 in 2019, the data shows.

Bytensky, of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said there wasn’t a subsequent jump in crime rates. In fact, he said, there was a significant drop in crime during the pandemic with a few exceptions like a surge in domestic violence charges. 

Premier Doug Ford has long pushed a tough-on-crime agenda, but his comments about being tougher on bail ratcheted up after an Ontario Provincial Police officer, Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, was shot to death in late 2022. The accused shooter was out on bail at the time and had a lifetime weapons ban.

Ottawa in late December passed new federal laws that see repeat violent offenders who use weapons prove to court they are not a safety or flight risk, a reversal from the onus on the prosecution to prove that.

Ford’s rhetoric hit a fever pitch in recent days when he said his government wanted “like-minded judges” to be tougher on accused criminals. His comments, which he “quadrupled down” on over a series of days at Queen’s Park, sparked furor in the legal profession and from the opposition. 

Bytensky said long waits for bail hearings have cost people jobs, housing and, in some cases, custody of children.

Meanwhile, since the vast majority of inmates have yet to have their day in court, there’s no programming for them, he said.

“They’re not receiving any rehabilitative steps that will help them reintegrate back into the community,” he said. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”

2) Ford Promises To Build As Many Jails As Needed To Keep Criminals Behind Bars

Canadian PressPublished: Mar 8th, 2024 11:38amLast Updated: Mar 8th, 2024 4:41pm

By Liam Casey

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledged Friday to build more jails as data shows the inmate population surged over the last year to the point where the vast majority of correctional institutions are well over capacity. 

Ford, speaking at an unrelated housing announcement in Milton, Ont., said he’d construct as many jails as needed in Ontario. 

“I’m going to be building more jails and I’m not worried about the criminals,” he said when asked about the overcrowded system.

“I’ll build as many jails as we need to put these criminals behind bars for a long time.” 

Data obtained by The Canadian Press through freedom-of-information laws shows the majority of Ontario jails are over capacity. Meanwhile, the province has said 81 per cent of inmates in provincial jails are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent. 

Criminal lawyers and correctional officers have said the jam-packed jails have deleterious effects on both inmates and jail guards.

The union representing correctional officers says inmates are triple bunking in several institutions, while guards are dealing with increased assaults and struggling with their mental health. The Criminal Lawyers Association says accused individuals are taking longer to get to a bail hearing, contributing to the rise in jail populations.  

As of Sept. 30, 2023, there was an average of 8,889 people in provincial jails, well over the 7,848-person capacity, and about 1,000 more inside jails on average compared to the year before.

Maplehurst Correctional Complex, not far from where Ford’s housing announcement took place Friday, is the province’s most overcrowded jail, operating at 134 per cent capacity in 2023, average inmate data shows.

Provincial jails hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day. Inmates serving sentences of two years or longer spend their days in the federal prison system.

The province is already building a new 345-bed jail in Thunder Bay, Ont., that will replace the current jail and double its capacity. The government also plans to build a 235-bed jail in eastern Ontario, but that project has met opposition from locals who don’t want to see it built on prime farmland.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents provincial correctional officers, said guards are increasingly assaulted, and operational stress injuries and post-traumatic stress disorders are on the rise. Suicides among correctional officers are also increasing and officers are asking the province for more help, a union spokesman recently said.

Ford said he would always support correctional officers.

“I always have their backs,” he said. “We’ll sit down with the solicitor general and follow through with the commitment of making sure that there’s more cells to keep these criminals in and supporting our correctional services officers.”

On Jan. 31, Attorney General Doug Downey issued a directive to Crown attorneys to oppose more bail hearings for “serious violent crimes,” including allegations of robberies with a gun, home invasions and car jackings. 

Prosecutors must seek approval if they want to grant bail under “exceptional circumstances” and senior Crown attorneys must be notified if someone is granted bail that the prosecution fought.

The premier has ramped up his tough-on-crime messaging in recent weeks and has come under fire from the legal profession and the opposition after saying his government wanted “like-minded judges” to be tougher on accused criminals.

Downey recently appointed two former staffers to the committee that hires provincial judges and justices of the peace, who largely deal with bail hearings. News of the appointments sparked an uproar from the legal community and opposition politicians. 

The Criminal Lawyers Association said Ford’s pledge to build more jails is nothing more than “political rhetoric.”

“If and when the premier wants to engage in a serious discussion about finding ongoing solutions to continue to improve Ontario’s criminal justice system and the public’s perception of it, the Criminal Lawyers Association remains committed to participating and doing its part to assist,” said Boris Bytensky, the association’s president.

Bytensky said the province should replace “old, often unsuitable and desperately over-populated” jails.

New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles said the government has to address the overburdened court system and jammed-up jails.

“I want the government to start to properly fund our court system so that we can actually move cases through at a better rate, so people get justice,” she said. “Also, we need to really address what’s happening in our correctional system, and we’re underfunding it, clearly.”

Ontario Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser said overcrowded jails are not safe for inmates or correctional workers.

“The premier talks tough on crime but doesn’t put his money where his mouth is in terms of giving resources to corrections and resources to the courts,” he said.

University of Ottawa criminology professor Justin Piché said Ontario should use money earmarked for new and expanding jails on other areas of need that he said would yield better outcomes. 

“He could also make a huge dent in our prison population by investing more in permanent and supportive housing at an annual cost of $40,000 per person, as well as intensive mental health, harm reduction and drug treatment supports,” Piche said.