Bill Abramenko’s daughters are urging the community to be extremely cautious before allowing a halfway house to set up shop again. Tracy Barth and Rosanne Maitland have written a letter to Vernon council expressing concern about the possibility of a correctional facility going ahead. We are hoping that you challenge Corrections Canada to your fullest extent to ensure they are not allowed to put anyone else in your city at risk,” writes Barth, who is in Kamloops, and Maitland, who is in Alberta.
Abramenko, 75, died in 2004 in his South Vernon home. The individual who has been charged with the death was missing from a halfway house at the time of the incident. As a result of Abramenko’s death, that facility was closed. But now Corrections Canada wants to establish a new halfway house in the community for parolees. The city has refused to make a decision until it sees a Corrections Canada report into the Abramenko case. Barth and Maitland also want to see the report. “Our family has not had the satisfaction of seeing any justice from the death of my father,” they write in the letter. “We are still in shock and our hearts cry out for why and how this could have happened to our family member. Things are really wrong when we cannot feel safe in our own homes. I can say this because I am living it every day.” Barth and Maitland urge city council to deny Corrections Canada’s request for a halfway house. “I believe that they are not prepared to run another facility in Vernon, especially if they have any concern for the well-being and safety of the citizens of Vernon,” they write.
Coun. Juliette Cunningham was moved by the letter. “You can sympathize with the family. They deal with this every day,” she said. “The letter is very fair given what they have been through.” Cunningham insists the city is challenging Corrections Canada as Barth and Maitland have asked. “We need to know what happened so it doesn’t happen again. We’re insisting on satisfactory answers to some of the outstanding questions.”
Officials from Corrections Canada will be on the city council agenda July 9. “They have questions they want clarified,” said Lisa Bayne, community engagement co-ordinator. Bayne is not aware of the letter written by Barth and Maitland, but believes there is a need in Vernon for a halfway house. “We are trying to provide more structure to offenders living in Vernon and a halfway house provides structure. The reality is they are living in Vernon right now,” she said.
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