N.W.T. youth jail to shut down

The Arctic Tern Young Offender Facility, the Northwest Territories' only jail for young female offenders, is shutting down because thereis not enough inmates to warrant keeping the facility open.

Territorialjustice officials announced on Thursday that the Inuvik, N.W.T.-based facility will close for good on March 31.

"It's about doing the right thing for female offenders," Colin Gordon, the N.W.T.'s director of corrections, told reporters.

"With one or two or three people in custody, we can't create the economies of scale necessary to operate the kind of programming that we need to do."

Opened in 2002, the $6.2-millionArctic Tern facility was built to hold up to 14 young offenders.

It currently costs about $5,500 a day to operate Arctic Tern regardless of whether there are inmates or not but officials said the facility has housed fewer than one offender per day, on average, so far this fiscal year.

In fact, Arctic Tern has not had any young female offenders in its custody since Oct. 23, officials said.

Federal act a factor

The highest number of offenders the facility housed in its history was nine in March 2006.

The N.W.T. government cited the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act as a major reason for closing Arctic Tern. The act came into effect in 2003 and emphasized finding ways to keep young offenders out of jail.

Several other N.W.T. correctional facilitieshaveclosed after the Youth Criminal Justice Act came into effect, including some group homes and the Dene K'onia Young Offender Facility.

Justice officials said young female offenders will be housed in a new women's correctional centre that will open in Fort Smith, N.W.T., in 2014. That facility will have adult and youth wings, they said.

In the meantime, the North Slave Young Offender Facility, which currently houses young male offenders in Yellowknife, will get minor upgradesto accommodate young femaleoffenders as well.

Three full-time jobs will be eliminated as a result of Arctic Tern's closure, and six other positions will be relocated to Yellowknife and Fort Smith. Some half-time, relief and term positions are also affected.