Quebec city suing Ottawa over planned downtown correctional centre

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OTTAWA — For years, the Quebec city of Saint-Jérôme has been trying to revitalize its downtown but, recently, things hit a major snag thanks to a move by the federal government that locals believe will jeopardize the whole plan.

A plan by Correctional Service Canada would place a new halfway house for criminals where local officials wanted to build a park, right at the entrance to the city’s downtown. In response, the city is now suing the federal government to force Ottawa to consult with residents before going ahead with the decision. 

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From the 1970s to 2019, people visiting downtown Saint-Jérôme, a city of 80,213 people in the Laurentides region, were greeted by a century-old building called La Maison Taillon. It was a prison. In fact, it was a community correctional centre, the CCC Laferrière. 

Five years ago, the federal government closed the building and demolished it earlier this year. At the time, the city saw an opportunity. The land is located in the heart of the Quartier des Arts et du Savoir, the city’s arts district. Nearby, there is a university campus, a college, a cathedral, a museum, a theatre, a public library, government offices and a public market. 

The city planned a “signature park” and offered another piece of land to the federal government so that it could build its new centre in a more convenient and appropriate location. 

“Our position is firm: the community correctional centre has no place at the entrance to the city’s downtown. We believe in the mission of this rehabilitation centre, but it is incompatible with the aspirations of dynamism in this growing sector,” said Mayor Marc Bourcier in May. 

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City council passed a resolution in 2022 to enter into negotiations with the federal government to acquire the land and offer Ottawa an alternative elsewhere in the city, according to court documents obtained by the National Post.  

City officials reached out to Correctional Service of Canada Commissioner Anne Kelly. The response, it seems, was chilly. 

Earlier this week, the city filed a judicial review application in Federal Court to force Ottawa to consult with its residents before deciding where to build its new facility. 

It also asks the court to overturn Kelly’s decision last month not to hold consultations under the “guidelines for the establishment and/or relocation of community correctional centres.” 

“The cessation of operations by the Correctional Service of Canada for 5 years and the demolition” of the centre “implies that the operations have been relocated to other sites,” the document states. “Its return to the site therefore constitutes a development or relocation.” 

The Federal Court has not yet heard the case and the facts have not been tested in court. 

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The city claims that the commissioner argued in a letter that her organization had no obligation to consult the community since the land is Crown property. 

Saint-Jérôme disagrees. According to city officials, the federal government seems to want to act quickly after dragging its feet for years. 

“The fact that the Correctional Service of Canada took four years to demolish the building on the site (…) also shows that there is no urgency to relocate the activities of the CCC Laferrière there without consulting the community,” reads the court document. 

The mayor plans to address the court case at a news conference Friday afternoon. Bourcier declined the National Post’s request for an interview. On Thursday, Correctional Service Canada wrote in a statement that the government decided the centre would remain in the downtown location “to ensure that essential reintegration activities resume for the residents of Laferrière CCC as soon as possible and to reduce costs.”

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Also, Ottawa says it remains “open and committed” to discussing with Saint-Jérôme the terms and timeline of the reconstruction of the centre “on this site, as well as any action that could be taken to address concerns regarding the potential social, safety and economic impacts of reconstructing the site.”

In Saint-Jérôme, the battle with the federal government is being compared to David versus Goliath. The city wants to develop its downtown, but the federal government doesn’t seem interested in collaborating. 

The region’s Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin said he has been working with federal officials for years to convince them to move the facility to a more appropriate location.  

“The federal government doesn’t care about what’s happening in Quebec or in the municipalities and that hurts me a lot,” Fortin told the National Post in an interview. 

He said he understands that the federal government has a certain prerogative over the provinces and municipalities, but he does not understand Ottawa’s “lack of respect”. 

“That’s where it gets difficult. They say, ‘We have the right to do what we want, so we do what we want.’ The least we can do is consult the people of Saint-Jérôme,” he said. 

National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com 

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