The two-year moratorium expires this fall and Corrections Canada has resumed its efforts to thrust a halfway house upon Vernon. In a closed door meeting on Monday, Corrections Canada met with politicians at city hall. No one outside knows exactly what was discussed,but two contractors have bid to run a new halfway house in Vernon and it’s likely Corrections Canada was informing the city. The previous house was closed due to public pressure in the wake of four murders in a 10 year span, all allegedly committed by parolees. Corrections Canada has said it was the first time such a facility had closed due to public pressure.
Now the moratorium on halfway houses is ending and Corrections Canada is looking to move back in.Statistics show criminals are less likely to re-offend after a stay in a halfway house, proponents say. But if locating a halfway house in Vernon is such a good thing, then why the secrecy? It seems reasonable the issue of its location be kept quiet for now, but there’s been no official statement saying the facility is a certainty. A few individuals have let out scraps of detail, but there’s been no further information other than what the media has been able to dig up.One of the bidders would not confirm with the Vernon Daily Courier that their organization had submitted a proposal.
With all of the turmoil surrounding the last halfway house, Corrections Canada and to a lesser extent the city, should be constantly assuring the public that this is the right move. Halfway houses are a key component of our criminal justice system. There has to be a mechanism to ease offenders who have served their time, to return to society. But rather than housing parolees that are already in the community, building a halfway house actually invites more dangerous former convicts than would live here otherwise.The highest level parolees can’t live in Vernon without a halfway house here.
With all of the history here with parolees, the community needs to have more input into what type of offender is allowed in and what safeguards will be put in place. Above all, Corrections Canada needs to be sensitive to the anger that still seethes in this community. For a halfway house to succeed here, public relations should be their top priority. And while violent offenders do need a place to be rehabilitated, they should be located somewhere else. Vernon has borne more than its fair share of violent parolees.
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CHBC VIDEO
New halfway house coming (Video)Web posted on Wednesday, 25 April 2007 The issue of a halfway house in Vernon is again raising concerns.
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