I was informed through your online newspaper about the upcoming forums. Thanks for that.

What I cannot find out is what public information sessions were held prior to the decision to build BC’s largest maximum security prison in our small town. Maureen’s reply was the same as yours – next week. (Councillor Maureen Doerr)

This is totally inappropriate for our community. Most people I speak to think this is a minimum security facility for a few locals who have become derailed a bit.

When I asked a local realtor about house prices declining and tourism dropping – he pointed out that Oliver is mostly a rural community that doesn’t really want tourism.

I’m still in shock! There are about 25 wineries in rural Oliver who collectively own and farm thousands of acres of farmland. They have spent millions of dollars to attract tourists and they pay a significant amount in taxes. They employ hundreds of local residents in interesting and challenging jobs, many of which are tourist related. There are many other operators growing wine grapes for wineries and they depend on these wineries for their livelihood.

I read that in order to attract the dozens of new residents who will come to the Okanagan to staff the prison, Oliver will need to have lower house prices than anywhere else. One councilor admitted that even at that, we will probably convince only a few to live here. I have also read studies that state “prison employees don’t like to live in prison towns” so don’t hold your breath that downtown Oliver will suddenly become revitalized.

The rest of the Okanagan will most definitely prosper at our expense. I truly believe that. But Jack, if this facility is in a more remote area or another, larger Okanagan municipality, Oliver residents can still apply for construction work, they can still apply for jobs when the prison opens. Will there be preference given to applicants who have a very short commute? Of course not. However, BC Corrections states that most of these jobs will be part-time (on call) with only 17.5 hours per week guaranteed. Many – (correctional officers in particular) will require 24 hour availability so an extra part-time job will be out of the question.

There is currently a critical need for prison accommodation in BC. BC Corrections is absolutely thrilled that the tiny town of Oliver has stepped up to meet this need without a word of resistance. In their Treasury Board Staffing Notes, November 17, 2011, they say that this kind of compliance would take years in the Lower Mainland (where citizens would be properly informed and democratic debate would ensue). Has Corrections BC, with minimal public consultation, strategically placed this facility on our First Nations land, creating a situation where residents of surrounding communities are hesitant to express concerns or feel they have no voice?

There are a lot of questions that have not been answered. A request for Access to Records through the Freedom of Information act returned only 2 pages of information related to why the OIB land and the town of Oliver was found suitable. But 339 pages were redacted for security reasons for goodness sake! One has to ask “what are they hiding?”. One of the advantages stated was that public acceptance was likely (Municipal Implication: M.1).

Thinking about the demand on health and social services is mind boggling. Vicki Hudson, Manager of Justice/Social Team, Information Access Operations said “the impact on health and social agencies was not identified as a critical decision-making criteria in assessing prospective sites” and that “these analyses would be best done directly by those health and social agencies”.

And yet, another one of the considerations in choosing Oliver, stated by the Ministry of Justice was “proximity to emergency services and availability of professional staff (psychiatry, dental, doctors, nurse)”. I think it’s fair to deduce that in a 700 inmate prison (360 cells double-bunked), there will be considerable demand for these services and some kind of study should have been presented to the citizens of Oliver, who may find these services denied to them from time to time. Another consideration for acceptance of the OIB land, was the ability to expand – (Technical:T.2). A town of 5,000 could find itself with perhaps 800 inmates or more and federal penitentiary status. No guarantees.

What about water demands, local policing demands, released prisoners, out-of-town visitors, safety of our citizens, light pollution at night.

Do you know that every other potential Okanagan town turned this down – West Kelowna, Summerland, Penticton and Osoyoos. – one of the reasons being that they were too small, it was too risky to existing businesses, too much stigma and once a decision is made, there is no reversing it. The people of Penticton didn’t want to jeopardize the contribution of winery and agricultural tourism. They held a referendum and the vote against a prison was almost 65%. But all of these larger communities will be happy to prosper from the construction, jobs and spin-off business opportunities that will ensue.

One of the largest and most established wineries in the area, said that the “less-than-visionary idea of hosting the largest prison in BC in the middle of wine country, was “totally insane, stupid.”

I could go on. There are a number of American studies that say having a prison does not bring economic prosperity and in fact is detrimental. But my final point is – why do we want to condemn our young men and women to a career that is dangerous, violent, depressing and ugly. Is this the best we can do? I have read that prison workers display a high incidence of depression, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and domestic abuse. I can find no other town in BC with such a small population, that hosts a prison. In our case, it will be the largest in BC and built to standards that will qualify it for a federal penitentiary if need be.

I’m not trying to divide our community but I love Oliver and hope to spend the rest of my life here. Can I put this (slightly edited) on your web site? Do you think it will direct people to less complacency? Please, let’s stop this madness. Regards,

Midge Wyse

Midge and Jim Wyse own the Burrowing Owl Winery but live in the Town of Oliver
The letter has not been edited

We have also published AGAIN a number of stories from the last year or so on the new correctional facility