by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 05/97) - Inmates at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre are getting wired.

Thanks to a load of donated computers that came about by chance, the 200 or so prisoners serving two years or less will get a chance to acquire some valuable job skills before being released.

Ron Near, warden of the facility, says some 18 donated computers from Alberta were expected to arrive at the jail by the end of the week.

They will be used by inmates to hone their computer skills and learn the programs most commonly used by business and industry. The idea is to give them skills they can use in the job market when they are released and possibly avoid another stay in the institution.

"It's a real positive thing for the inmates," Near said.

Training in computer skills makes former inmates more attractive to employers upon release, he said, and also gives the prisoners an extra option to fall back on so they can get their lives together and avoid returning to prison.

The computer gift came about when the deputy mayor of Calgary toured the prison earlier this year while in the city for a conference. He saw what he said was a lack of computer equipment in the facility.

There are currently a few computers used in the jail's education department, but there is a need for more and better equipment, and Near said the deputy mayor said at the time that he would work on it.

When he returned to Calgary, the politician used his contacts there to round up gear for the prison, and it was sent off this week.

"We didn't even have to pay for the shipping," Near said.

He said he hopes to have the machines installed and working as soon as possible. He added that most of the inmates would be able to use the equipment.