RANKIN INLET - After months of talk and speculation, Rankin Inlet was officially named home to the new Nunavut correctional facility this past week.

Justice Minister Paul Okalik says the government will work with Nunavut Arctic College to ensure most of the 35 jobs at the new correctional facility go to local residents. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

A series of meetings were held in Rankin leading up to the announcement, as territorial and federal justice representatives met with hamlet council, elders, Nunavut Arctic College, Spousal Abuse program workers, and Social Services, among others.

About 50 people also attended an open public meeting to discuss the facility.

Justice Minister Paul Okalik said the feedback he received from his staff concerning the public meeting was extremely positive.

He said the two main concerns revolved around whether inmates would remain in Rankin once their time was up, and if they would receive proper healing and counselling while in jail.

"Rankin residents can be assured our focus is on healing and we want the inmates to receive proper programming," said Okalik.

"We wanted to build in Nunavut so we could manage that ourselves.

"Right now, we send inmates to Yellowknife and Ottawa and we can't manage the type of programming they're receiving."

The Government of Nunavut (GN) is working with the municipality to select one of three possible sites for the facility.

Okalik said having elders such as Mariano Aupilardjuk in Rankin - recognized as one of the premier healers for Inuit inmates - is a tremendous asset for the facility.

He said the GN will work to ensure inmate programming includes elders' visits and land trips.

"Going out on the land really assists inmates with getting reacquainted with their culture and ties to the land.

"The land trips are one of the more beneficial initiatives because it's not very conducive to healing and trying to change your ways when you're just locked up in a facility.

"It doesn't always work, of course, but it has proven itself quite effective in Iqaluit."

Okalik said the GN will also work closely with Nunavut Arctic College to ensure there's a trained workforce ready when the facility opens. He said the GN hopes to fill the majority, if not all, the expected 35 jobs with workers from Rankin Inlet.

"Another reason Rankin was selected was that we don't want to put any community at risk, and it has enough available police on the ground in case of emergency.

"That made Rankin an easy choice when combined with the new health centre here that's staffing up."

The government's timetable for the facility will see site selection completed with the hamlet by the end of 2007, ground preparation beginning in 2008 and the jail completed in 2011.

Okalik said while he can promise inmates will receive proper programming while they're incarcerated in Rankin, he can't guarantee they will leave the community upon completion of their sentence.

He said some inmates may stay in Rankin if they find employment in the community.

"They're a lower risk to re-offend once they start working, and they may be close to family or extended family living in the Kivalliq.

"They'll get more support from their families by actually living here.

"There is a risk some inmates may stay, but the vast majority of them will go back to their home communities."

Mayor Lorne Kusugak said he is happy the decision to have Rankin as home to the new facility was finally made official.

He said the importance of the community consultations this past week was to ensure there was no opposition to the facility coming to Rankin, and to get input from the various agencies that will provide support to inmates housed in the new jail.

"The public meeting was especially important because if there had been an outcry against the facility, the government wouldn't have been able to build it here," said Kusugak.

"But, after all the meetings were completed, the minister was able to stand up and officially announce the facility would be in Rankin.

"That came as no surprise to me because I've known for some time that our community supports the new jail coming here."