Extensive waiting periods and a lack of consultation between the Correctional Service of Canada and tenants at a downtown office building could delay the planned relocation of the Ottawa District Parole office.
The CSC is evaluating a site at 116 Albert St. where officials say they hope to relocate the parole office after its current lease expires in September.
“At this point, the Albert Street location is the only option we are pursuing,” said Holly Knowles, spokesperson for the CSC.
Knowles says the site is desirable because it is downtown and easily accessible by transit.
Some of the tenants, however, said they were unaware of any plans for the parole office to relocate into their building.
Alex Beraskow, President of IT/NET, a consulting firm that operates out of the building, says he is concerned for the security of his staff.
“Does this mean that people are going to be showing up in handcuffs with police officers, or with machine guns? We have been told absolutely zip,” he said.
Beraskow said the lack of communication between the CSC and tenants is a critical problem.
“If somebody’s going to be putting up something that threatens my employees I want to know about it. In fact, I better know about it,” he says.
In addition to the concerns of tenants, the relocation process could also be delayed by a series of ongoing evaluations.
According to an email from Nathalie Bétoté Akwa, a spokesperson for Public Works and Government Services Canada, the site needs a building inspection and an environmental assessment.
If the site meets federal standards, Public Works can proceed to negotiate the details of a lease agreement with the landlord.
Once a lease agreement is in place however, Akwa says it would take an additional eight to 10 months to give the office a face-lift.
Whether the landlord is willing to negotiate a lease remains unclear.
When asked about the relocation of the parole office, representatives from Metcalfe Realty Company Ltd., which owns and manages the building, refused to comment.
Beraskow says he contacted Metcalfe Realty on Jan. 14. He said he was informed by the realtors that the building was no longer being considered as a possible destination.
The Ottawa parole office supervises approximately 200 parolees at any given time, with the majority residing in half-way homes in the Centretown area.
According to Brian Wheeler, acting area director of the parole office, all of the clients have served sentences of two or more years in federal prison.
Wheeler says he suspects some of the clients are repeat offenders, but also says he thinks there are misconceptions about how the office operates.
“People see it as a place where offenders congregate, but this isn’t the case with federal parole offices at all,” he says.
“Most of the time parole officers are going out into the larger community to visit offenders at their homes and workplaces.”
The current location of the parole office at 191 Gilmour St. has been a source of public controversy since it opened in 2004. This is primarily due to the office’s close proximity to Elgin Street Public School.
In 2007, former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day wrote a letter to the Centretown Citizens’ Community Association promising that the parole office would re-located by September of this year.
Knowles says the CSC hopes to secure a new space by the promised deadline, but acknowledged the possibility of staying put beyond that date.
“Clearly we need to function until we can find a new location,” Knowles says.
“If the evaluations are successful we’ll be able to move into that facility. If it’s not successful then it’s back to the drawing board,” he adds.
Jennifer McKenzie, Ottawa District School Board trustee for Somerset-Kitchissippi, says parents have waited a long time for this relocation to happen.
“The commitment has been made and I think the parole office has to live up to its promise,” she says.