UPDATE 03-14-2022 4:40 PM: MPP Steve Clark responded to our request for comment with the following statement:
“These critical investments demonstrate our government’s ongoing commitment to our incredible frontline corrections workers, while also providing an important boost to our local economy.
I remain committed to working with the community on outstanding concerns on the Kemptville Correctional Complex and also the construction of the new Brockville Jail and the expansion of the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre.
At my request, the Solicitor General worked closely with the municipality of North Grenville to secure the use and retention of the lands that will not be directly used by the facility for the use of the municipality, including the community-driven agricultural and related initiatives, which I know is very important to the Kemptville community.”
With the next provincial election months away, one of our region’s candidates says the proposed prison in Kemptville shouldn’t be built yet.
“It is the responsibility of elected officials to consult, engage, and empower local citizens to have a say in the growth, vision, and future of their community,” says Josh Bennett, the Ontario Liberal Party’s candidate for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. “Steve Clark failed to do this when he announced out of the blue that a prison would be built in the middle of downtown Kemptville.”
Bennett, a Prescott resident born and raised in Augusta, says the government needs to listen to the community more before construction starts. “We need robust consultations with Indigenous Peoples, Kemptville residents, and the wider North Grenville community on how best to use the historic farmlands of the old Kemptville Agriculture College,” he says.
MyPrescottNow.com has reached out to Steve Clark, our region’s current MPP, for comment.
