On June 29th ask the new Ontario Corrections Minister to build communities, not bigger jails

* Updated on 29 June 2018 *

Ontario's new Premier Doug Ford named the members of his cabinet today. To welcome Michael Tibollo, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, to his new portfolio, the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP) is encouraging its members, members of other community groups and organizations, and other concerned residents of eastern Ontario and the province to do the following. 

Please take 10-15 minutes today or next week to contact Minister Tibollo to encourage him to immediately halt the province’s plans to replace the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre with a new and bigger jail, and to hold a public consultation on how to enhance the collective well-being and safety of the residents of Eastern Ontario.

This demand can be conveyed using one or more of the five methods outlined below.

1. Tweet Premier Ford @fordnation and Minister Tibollo @michaeltibollo
2. Write a Facebook message to Premier Ford @fordnation and Minister Tibollo @michaeltibollo
3. Phone the Minister’s office at 1-866-517-0571
4. Fill-out an online form on the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services website indicating "Corrections" under "My feedback concerns" and "Question for the minister" under "I am inquiring about"
5. Mail a letter to: 

Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services

18th Floor

25 Grosvenor Street

Toronto, ON

M7A 1Y6

In your communications with the office of Minister Tibollo, you can also point to one of the many alternatives to jail expansion being shared via the #got99solutions – but a bigger jail ain’t one campaign on CPEP's Facebook page.

• June 29: increasing community re-entry resources 
• June 28: end bail conditions that set people up to fail
• June 27: invest more in college instead of crime school
• June 26: reduce class sizes in our elementary and secondary schools
• June 25: invest more in early childhood education / daycare 
• June 24: invest more in legal aid to speed-up court processing 
• June 23: honour our TRC obligations / end Indigenous mass incarceration 
• June 22: end immigration detention 
• June 21: invest more in counselling 
• June 20: increase access to opioid substitution treatment 
• June 19: provide access to food 
• June 18: increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour 
• June 17: invest more in university instead of crime school 
• June 16: increase access to rent supplements 
• June 15: hire more peer support workers 
• June 14: hire more bail and re-entry support workers 
• June 13: invest more in prevention 
• June 12: invest more in drug treatment 
• June 11: invest more in harm reduction 
• June 10: invest more in intensive case management 
• June 9: invest more in permanent and supportive housing 
• June 8: hire more educational assistants in elementary and secondary schools

Today, next week and beyond, say #NOPE / No Ottawa Prison Expansion and #YESS / Yes to Education and Social Services!