ARCHIVED - Speaking notes for The Honourable Vic Toews at an announcement related to CSC Institutions

Ottawa, Ontario
April 19, 2012

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Good afternoon. Thank you for coming to this important announcement today.

When our Government took office in 2006, we pledged to Canadians across the country that we would work to keep our streets and communities safe.

That our streets and communities would be places where families could grow and prosper – not live in fear and intimidation.

And those seeking to harm our loved ones – and our way of life – would face the full force of the law.

I’m very proud to be part of a Government that has delivered on these promises.

Through our actions, our words, and our legislation – we have achieved some very positive change.

Most recently, we passed the Safe Streets and Communities Act, which accomplished three important goals.

It extended greater protection to the most vulnerable members of our society -- as well as victims of terrorism.

It further enhanced our ability to hold offenders accountable for their crimes.

And it helped improve the safety and security of all Canadians.

A big component of ensuring safety and security is ensuring we have appropriate facilities to house inmates.

You may have heard innuendo and attacks from my opposition critics accusing our Government of plans to build all kinds of new prisons across the country.

This is simply not true. Our Government has been clear, and I will repeat now, what I’ve said consistently–

The thrust of our tough-on-crime legislation is to ensure that dangerous and repeat offenders remain behind bars – where they belong for a longer period of time.

We are not creating new criminals.

We’re ending the revolving door of justice so criminals are kept off our streets, as police and the provinces have asked us to do.

And the numbers back this up.

Every step of the way, our government was told by opponents that our tough on crime policies would create a wave of inmates that would swamp the correctional system, creating untold new costs.

Quite simply – these new inmates have not materialized.

As we stated in our most recent budget, we will not build any new prisons and we have no intention of building new prisons.

We will not spend a dollar on corrections that is not necessary to keep Canadians safe.

In fact, given that the influx of new prisoners originally predicted is not materializing, I am announcing today that our Government will be closing two prisons.

Let me explain.

Some of CSC’s institutions are simply not working well anymore.

Some of these facilities were built in a different era – not for today’s correctional system.

We’ve heard from front-line employees in certain institutions that they are confronted by situations, such as lack of appropriate sightlines, and cells with open bars that permit inmates to throw objects at correctional officers.

The location and design of control posts in this old infrastructure do not allow for the most effective views of cell-block ranges.

While the officers have been able to carry out their duties, they’ve been faced with additional challenges not present at other institutions.

We’re combating these issues, head-on.  Newer units have been designed to enhance correctional staff’s ability to see down ranges and more quickly intervene to respond or prevent incidents.

Institutions built in the 19th century are not appropriate for managing a 21st century inmate population.

And so today, I am announcing the impending closure of Kingston Penitentiary and the Regional Treatment Centre in Kingston as well as Leclerc Institution in Laval, Quebec.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kingston Penitentiary opened its doors in 1835 – 177 years ago – before Confederation!

But the time has come to recognize its crumbling infrastructure, costly upkeep, and severe limitations in effectively managing a population of maximum security male offenders, and in the case of LeclercInstitution, medium-security offenders.

Moving these offenders to other facilities will increase safety and security – and ensure the best use of hard working Canadians’ tax dollars.   

Let me be clear – maximum security offenders will be moved to maximum security units at existing facilities. The same will be true for medium security offenders.

Kingston Penitentiary and Leclerc Institution are aging facilities, with aging infrastructure.

Simply put, we have better options.

The Correctional Service of Canada has a comprehensive approach to close Kingston Penitentiary and Leclerc Institution over the next two years. I am confident that CSC can implement these changes without undue hardship to the dedicated men and women who work there.

In coming to this decision, a thorough review was conducted. In addition to infrastructure, efficiency and safety considerations, CSC carefully studied the decision from a socio-economic perspective.

The majority of staff at these sites will be able to move jobs close to Kingston Penitentiary and Leclerc without moving their homes or their families.

The cells at other facilities will accommodate the offenders in these institutions we are decommissioning.

In conclusion, there can be no doubt that our Government is committed to ensuring public safety – and the rights of law-abiding Canadians – is paramount.

We’re committed to ensuring our correctional system is effective AND efficient.

And we’re committed to ensuring the hard-working individuals working within our federal institutions are working under the best possible conditions with the best possible infrastructure.

We will continue to fight crime and protect Canadians so our communities are safe places for people to live, raise their families and do business.

Thank you, and I will now pass the microphone over to Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais who will say a few words in French.

Date modified:

2015-11-20