Despite the Correctional Service of Canada’s hasty relocation of a controversial halfway house in Kingston last month, a similar move for the Ottawa parole office is unlikely to happen by the promised deadline of September 2009.
Last June, the federal government announced that Kingston’s Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre would be relocated within 10 months.
Nine months later CSC delivered on that promise. It was a swift response rectifying the problem of housing 29 high-risk offenders only 20 metres from a local playground.
“I am pleased to say that we are ahead of schedule,” said Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan at a news conference after announcing the relocation in February.
In Ottawa, however, the relocation process for the parole office has not been as smooth. Despite similar concerns from community members about the close proximity of the parole office to Elgin Street Public School, numerous setbacks have already delayed the planned relocation.
The parole office has been located at 191 Gilmour St. for nearly five years and supervises an average of 200 parolees at any given time – including a number of convicted sex offenders.
A spokesperson for Van Loan says the minister has a strong position on the issue, but declined to say what that might be. Instead, the spokesperson pointed to Public Works and Government Services Canada as the lead contacts.
Public Works spokesperson Nathalie Bétoté Akwa says two potential locations have already been withdrawn from consideration and says it is premature to indicate when a move will take place.
In a 2007 letter addressed to the Centretown Citizens’ Community Association, then-public safety minister Stockwell Day made a commitment to move the Ottawa parole office by September of this year.
However, according to information obtained from Public Works, it will be impossible for CSC to meet this deadline.
The first major obstacle is finding a suitable location.
Once a new site is found and approved by CSC, and a lease agreement is signed by Public Works, Akwa says it will take an additional eight to 10 months to re-fit the space before the parole office can even move in.
Although no official statement has been released, CSC spokesperson Holly Knowles acknowledges the possibility of the parole office staying put.
“Clearly, we need to function until we can find a new location,” Knowles says. “So yes, we would be staying at the current location until we can secure a new space.”
But for many concerned residents who continue to wait patiently for the relocation, this is an unacceptable proposition.
Christine Kincaid, a Centretown resident with two children attending Elgin Street Public School, says she would be extremely disappointed if CSC did not fulfill its promise, adding that a move is long overdue.
Kincaid says she was initially optimistic that the parole office could co-exist in the community, but today she says she won’t even let her son walk to school alone.
The parole office, which is roughly 80 metres from the school and only steps from Minto Park, is in direct violation of the Accommodations Guidelines for Parole Offices (March 1982).
An excerpt from this document was obtained through a public access to information request filed through Public Works in 2005. It states that parole offices should not be located within 300 metres of a school, near parks or playgrounds, or in a residential neighbourhood.
CSC spokesperson Christelle Chartrand says no 300-metre policy has ever existed, and says the department now adheres to the Facility Guidelines: Parole Offices (May 2006)
However, these guidelines were updated two years after the parole office moved in.
“The reality is that they likely know they are violating the guidelines, and they are trying to rectify the situation by moving,” says Ottawa Centre Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi.
“Whatever new location they move to, I want to ensure that all guidelines are met and that CSC has consulted the community in a very open and transparent way.”
If the parole office is not moved by September 2009, Naqvi says he will begin working closely with MP Paul Dewar to help facilitate a solution.
“My big concern is to make sure that the community is safe and children are protected.”