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The union representing correctional officers at Ottawa’s jail says one of its members is living in fear after his car appeared to be firebombed last weekend in what the union says was a targeted attack.
Union local president Denis Collin is accusing the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of not doing enough to try to keep the officer safe.
The minister in charge of the province’s jails, meanwhile, said the situation is being taken very seriously.
The correctional officer’s Pontiac Sunfire was parked on a residential street in Orléans on Sunday night when it caught fire around 11 p.m. Collin said the officer noticed the driver’s side window had been smashed. The correctional officer was also led to believe the fire was likely set with a Molotov cocktail, according to Collin.
The Ottawa police arson squad said they are investigating the suspicious fire, but tests to confirm the exact cause will likely take several months. The OPP and the RCMP are monitoring the investigation and available to provide assistance.
“We really believe this was deliberately done and this officer was targeted,” said Collin, himself a correctional officer and the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union local that represents officers at the jail on Innes Road.
Since the fire, the OPP’s Justice Officials Protection and Investigations Service provided the officer with video cameras to set up around his home for seven days, Collin said. The jail has agreed to pay the $10 it would cost for the Wi-Fi needed to ensure their operation, but the ministry has done next to nothing to help keep the officer safe, according to Collin.
The officer did not wish to be interviewed when Postmedia visited him at his home.
Collin said he believes management at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre provided the limited amount of assistance that they could, but the ministry should do more.
“The ministry doesn’t protect their own employees in a situation like this,” said Collin. “We are outraged. What will it take next, will it be somebody in the hospital or getting killed for the ministry to do something?”
While the ministry did not immediately reply to a request for further information about what steps, if any, they have taken to assist the officer, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi called the situation “very serious.”
“We take it very seriously,” Naqvi said Friday. “We also want to make sure that our staff, our correctional officer, his health and safety is protected.”
Naqvi said the ministry is offering employee assistance, although he wasn’t aware whether additional security was being offered to the correctional officer because it was an operational issue.
“We take their health and safety very, very seriously. They do have a very difficult job,” he said. “Their health and safety is our No. 1 priority.”
Collin said he was not aware of whether the officer was the subject of any direct threats inside the jail. Collin said it’s not unusual for correctional officers to be threatened on the job.
“You get accustomed to the fact it is part of the dialogue inside the institution,” he said.
While police have examined the car, there is currently no known evidence linking the fire to the correctional officer’s job.
“Usually there is a message attached to (a firebomb),” said Collin. “This employee is still in fear and his family is in fear. We want a lot more to protect him.”
Collin said OPSEU would like to see the ministry contact the officer to discuss exactly what measures the officer believes he needs to ensure his safety and the safety of his family.
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Union local president Denis Collin is accusing the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of not doing enough to try to keep the officer safe.
The minister in charge of the province’s jails, meanwhile, said the situation is being taken very seriously.
The correctional officer’s Pontiac Sunfire was parked on a residential street in Orléans on Sunday night when it caught fire around 11 p.m. Collin said the officer noticed the driver’s side window had been smashed. The correctional officer was also led to believe the fire was likely set with a Molotov cocktail, according to Collin.
The Ottawa police arson squad said they are investigating the suspicious fire, but tests to confirm the exact cause will likely take several months. The OPP and the RCMP are monitoring the investigation and available to provide assistance.
“We really believe this was deliberately done and this officer was targeted,” said Collin, himself a correctional officer and the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union local that represents officers at the jail on Innes Road.
Since the fire, the OPP’s Justice Officials Protection and Investigations Service provided the officer with video cameras to set up around his home for seven days, Collin said. The jail has agreed to pay the $10 it would cost for the Wi-Fi needed to ensure their operation, but the ministry has done next to nothing to help keep the officer safe, according to Collin.
The officer did not wish to be interviewed when Postmedia visited him at his home.
Collin said he believes management at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre provided the limited amount of assistance that they could, but the ministry should do more.
“The ministry doesn’t protect their own employees in a situation like this,” said Collin. “We are outraged. What will it take next, will it be somebody in the hospital or getting killed for the ministry to do something?”
While the ministry did not immediately reply to a request for further information about what steps, if any, they have taken to assist the officer, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi called the situation “very serious.”
“We take it very seriously,” Naqvi said Friday. “We also want to make sure that our staff, our correctional officer, his health and safety is protected.”
Naqvi said the ministry is offering employee assistance, although he wasn’t aware whether additional security was being offered to the correctional officer because it was an operational issue.
“We take their health and safety very, very seriously. They do have a very difficult job,” he said. “Their health and safety is our No. 1 priority.”
Collin said he was not aware of whether the officer was the subject of any direct threats inside the jail. Collin said it’s not unusual for correctional officers to be threatened on the job.
“You get accustomed to the fact it is part of the dialogue inside the institution,” he said.
While police have examined the car, there is currently no known evidence linking the fire to the correctional officer’s job.
“Usually there is a message attached to (a firebomb),” said Collin. “This employee is still in fear and his family is in fear. We want a lot more to protect him.”
Collin said OPSEU would like to see the ministry contact the officer to discuss exactly what measures the officer believes he needs to ensure his safety and the safety of his family.
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