Amid delays in moving the Ottawa Parole Office from its controversial location at 191 Gilmour St., government officials say they’re unsure about what will eventually move into the vacated site.
“If the Ottawa parole office is still in the building, it is too early to know which department will move to Gilmour Street,” Nathalie Betote Akwa, a spokeswoman for Public Works Canada, said in an interview.
Brian Karam, owner of 191 Gilmour, also says the government has not indicated to him who or what will move to the location.
Since it opened in 2004 across from Elgin Street Public School and Minto Park, the parole office has faced a backlash from community members and local politicians concerned about the presence of parolees.
Correctional Service Canada also found fault with the location, saying that the building was too small to serve as the city’s parole office.
Furthermore, their guidelines prohibit having an office close to a school.
In 2006, former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day promised that the parole office would move by September 2009. His promise was partially kept.
“The Gilmour Street location stopped supervising parolees in September 2009 and will continue to function only as an administrative office,” says Julie Doering, a representative for CSC.
The entire office was scheduled to move to the Jackson Building at 122 Bank St. /257 Slater St. by 2009. But renovations have delayed the move until the spring of 2011.
“The lease to 191 Gilmour has been extended until renovations at the Jackson Building can be completed and the parole office can move out,” says Doering.
Albert Galpin, an activist who opposed the Gilmour Street parole office from the beginning, fears the government has misled the public and worries they have no interest in moving.
“I am extremely disappointed that the CSC has yet again gone back on its promise to move by January 2011. This is the third delay for the move of the parole office,” says Galpin. “The CSC seems incapable of managing a simple office move after four years of broken promises. They do not care about the views of neighbourhood residents.”
Galpin lobbied Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar to write a letter about the situation to the Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose. The letter was sent on May 5. In it, Dewar reiterates the community’s wish to have the office moved and the uncertainty felt from the government’s repeated delays.
He then asked to meet with the minister to discuss the status of the move. Dewar’s office received a response on June 2. In it, Ambrose says the parole office will be moved by early 2011.