The solicitor general of BC is on record saying the new correctional centre will not risk public safety and will not drain local police resources.

We will hold him to that.

But quite frankly, we don’t see anyone escaping that facility in a laundry hamper or a sewer vent after tunneling through a cell wall. (Shawshank Redemption is a great film, by the way.)

Many people have already booked their public tour times for October 21-23, when they will get a firsthand look at the facility and how secure it is. Don’t get caught with your smartphone (taking photos) in there or the warden might make an example out of you. “What we have here . . . is a failure to communicate.” (Cool Hand Luke is also a great prison movie.)

The 378 cells are quite small with only narrow window openings to allow natural light in. This may sound claustrophobic, but once outside their cells the inmates will be able to do a number of things, such as grow vegetables in the greenhouse and take part in healing and rehabilitation programs, not to mention learning new skills to prepare them for future employment.

While there will definitely be more criminals in the community, they won’t be creating havoc like the one’s who haven’t been caught yet. (Clarification: Some have but were let go to commit more crimes.)

It’s nice to see that some of the minimum risk inmates will be giving back to the community through work projects. Keeping prisoners busy and constructive will go a long way in their rehabilitation.

Once they complete their time at the facility, they will be given a bus ticket back to their community of origin, where hopefully they will start a new life and stay clean. We can only hope that the pride that comes with making an honest living is greater than the temptation of easy money through crime.

When all is said and done, the Okanagan Correctional Centre should have minimal negative impact on the community. But we know for sure there will be more economic impacts, and new families have already moved here, boosting enrolment in local schools.

If our population does exceed 5,000 because of the facility, the Town will be on the hook for higher policing costs. But we believe this should be mitigated by the province with additional funds to offset this burden. We didn’t ask for the prison, so any fallout from additional policing costs should not be borne primarily by the community.

Lyonel Doherty, editor