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Solicitor General's office says superjail policing costs could be reduced with new billing model

Solicitor General representative formally responds, dodges question of face-to-face meeting with mayor prior to upcoming budget meeting
2020-03-24-CNCC
The Central North Correctional Centre. File Photo

Increasing frustration over the inability of Penetanguishene Mayor Doug Leroux and CAO Jeff Lees to have a discussion with Ministry of the Solicitor General Sylvia Jones has led to a spat over policing costs at Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC).

At the first 2022 draft budget meeting of town council, where it was said that taxpayers could see an estimated $345,090 — or 3.1 per cent  tax increase to the town’s total budget next year, Leroux once again expressed his renewed intent to have a face-to-face meeting with Jones.

Over the past few months, Leroux and Lees have been attempting to speak to Jones in regards to CNCC policing costs, which stem from Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers being dispatched to the superjail.

“I do intend to write the Solicitor General again reiterating that we want, require and request a face-to-face meeting. And we are going to CC the premier on this," the mayor said. "We will keep council abreast and in the loop and we’ll have a report at our Oct. 13 council meeting, at which time maybe I will be looking at an in-camera session."

The Ministry of the Solicitor General was asked for comment and whether Jones would agree to Leroux’s request for a meeting. And if so, if that meeting would be well in advance of the next meeting of Penetanguishene town council.

In a written response, press secretary Stephen Warner said: “This adjustment brings Central North Correctional Complex and the municipality of Penetanguishene in line with the remaining 24 provincial correctional facilities in Ontario."

“Staff with the Ministry of the Solicitor General have been in regular contact with staff at the municipality for a number of months regarding their concerns," he added. "As a result of this dialogue, we understand that the municipality has agreed to switch to a ‘calls-for-service’ billing model for policing, which will save taxpayers’ dollars as compared to the billing model that would otherwise take effect in 2022."

Warner also said the ministry is providing interim funding up until 2022 to support the municipality in the transition.

"We will continue to support Penetanguishene as they work through this process," he said. 

Warner said the ministry anticipates that Penetanguishene’s policing costs, using the calls-for-service billing model, will be less than $400,000 and that information has been shared with municipal staff.

"We continue to review the information presented by Penetanguishene at the 2020 AMO conference in August," he added. 

In 2019, a ministry representative notified the town that all contracts Ontario-wide for the recovery of policing costs of correctional institutions, including the provincially operated CNCC, had been cancelled. A new Community Safety & Policing Act was initialized by the province, requiring all municipalities to switch to a standard calls-for-service billing model as of Jan. 1, 2022.

The cost had been anticipated to be as high as $400,000 by staff, prompting Leroux and Lees to contact Jones for a remedy to the situation. Their request of the Solicitor General was to have a lengthy and in-depth face-to-face discussion, even including Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop to be a part of the conversation.

At the 2021 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference this summer, Leroux and Lees were able to secure a 10-minute delegation with Jones, allowing them to briefly discuss the impact of the province’s decision.

The town called for regulatory amendments where the province would fund CNCC policing costs entirely from 2022 onward.


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Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Derek Howard covers Midland and Penetanguishene area civic issues under the Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the Government of Canada.
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