Mr. Speaker, going back to the proposed closure of Arctic Tern, I’d like to direct my question today to the Minister of Justice. During the course of some discussions I was told that there was an engineer’s report being done on the facility. I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice: what is the status of the report?
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Minister Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, there is a review that’s been undertaken, and that review should be completed sometime early next month, I do believe. Once we have that package, then we can certainly discuss it with the Member.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that timeline. I’ve got 18 full-time staff and some casuals in there depending on me to bring their concerns forward.
I’d like to ask the Minister: who is doing the report? Is it being done by the department — which I could have a problem with, because they might use that to justify closing the facility — or is it done by an independent engineer?
Mr. Speaker, our department is working with another firm that is doing the overall.... We’re working closely with PWS, as well, on the foundation itself and the structure of the building.
The building is a fairly new building, but there are some structural damages to it, so we need to develop plans on that, the next step. The review has been done on that part.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister what would happen if the engineer’s report were to come back that the building was structurally sound. Would that be an opportunity to still use it as a young female offenders' facility?
Mr. Speaker, if the report comes out stating that the building still could be utilized for a number of years, then we can certainly utilize the building, whether it be for program delivery.... We are looking at options for that particular building, and we are going through some stages here. What we propose here is part of the Arctic Tern plans, but there are other options that may be fully utilized in that facility.
Mr. Speaker, the facility was built at a cost of around $14 million, I understand. It’s six years old and was built to house young female offenders. We have people that believed us when we said, “Go get training and we’ll employ you.” So they’ve done that. Moving them around the territory is not an option. These are people who were born and raised around there, so they would obviously like to stay. I would like to ask the Minister if this proposed closure of Arctic Tern is dependent on this budget being passed.
Mr. Speaker, one of the proposals is the reduction in the Arctic Tern facility. Not only that, but the cost for us to operate the facility, with the way it’s been operating with the number of inmates in there and the number of staff.... It’s just the feasibility of the operations. So that’s what our department’s been tackling.
Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s answers. I would like to ask the Minister if his department is aware of any potential changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act of Canada, which would justify, probably, keeping the facility to be used as it’s being used now.
Mr. Speaker, when I met with the federal minister and the provincial ministers last fall in Winnipeg, one of the discussions was potential changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They are seeking our input, from all jurisdictions, and I do believe that review of the input will be starting this summer, late fall. It could change. There are a lot of concerns in that area, so we’ll certainly provide our input to deal with those issues.
The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
