The province says its working to try and solve the shortage of correctional service officers in the region.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford says one idea is attracting jail guards from Manitoba.
“The Northern Correctional Officer Recruitment program is something that we are just putting the contours to now and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to focus on a more local recruitment strategy, rather than depend on transfers, which sometimes can be temporary.”
Rickford notes they have had some success in training jail guards locally as opposed to southern Ontario.
“One of things that we did was we brought the training out to Kenora through Seven Generations so that people would not have to travel to southern Ontario for the training. That would help us recruit local people who could actually stay at their homes, if they lived in Kenora, and go to the training at Seven Generations.”
A union official says the Kenora Jail is currently short about 11 correctional service officers and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union calls the situation a powderkeg.
