SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - On May 17, Yellowknife's adult jail, designed to hold 146 prisoners in single-bed cells, was holding 172 inmates, half of whom were in custody awaiting trial.

Some city councillors say this is unacceptable.

Stephen Moss, NWT fire marshal, said though the building was designed for 146 in its general population, that number is not the maximum capacity. He said the jail cells can accommodate more than one bed, so that number can grow.

"I don't have an actual number that the space would allow," the fire marshal said.

Doubling up cells with more beds has never posed a problem, according to Colin Gordon, director of corrections for the NWT. He said jail management doesn't think of 146 inmates as a set limit. In his experience it's always been a "very manageable" situation, he said.

City councillor Lydia Bardak deals with a lot of people who run into trouble with the law through her work with the John Howard Society. Bardak said she hears a lot of complaints about crowding from people who have been incarcerated.

"When you put two or three people in one cell, basically they're living in a bathroom," said Bardak, adding that the cells are basically rooms with a toilet.

On Friday News/North spoke to a young man who served close to four months in the jail last winter.

He said life in a jail cell was not glaringly bad, but it was uncomfortable.

"Usually you have two bunks in a cell, and then sometimes they bring in an extra mat so a guy can sleep on the floor," he said.

The cell was small, about the size of an average bathroom, with a toilet that was in open view, he said.

"There's usually etiquette. Someone'll say 'alright, read your book.'"

Perry Campbell, deputy warden of operations and security, said the inmates were comfortable and the mood was as light as it could be given the fact that it is a jail.

There is a gym and three outdoor basketball courts, a "jam" room for musicians, and there is an arts room where inmates can paint and do leatherworking. There is a small chapel room for religious inmates. There is also a full-time psychiatrist available.

Despite this, Bardak said "inmates consistently tell me that the units are all completely full" and that it is not a comfortable situation.

Of the 172 incarcerated on May 17, 86 were in custody awaiting trial. City Coun. Paul Falvo, who is also a lawyer, raised concern about how many people were being put into remand.

"These are essentially innocent people," said Falvo, citing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that anyone charged with an offence is to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Falvo said he wondered how much it is costing Northern taxpayers to house and feed all of these presumably innocent people.

According to Megan Holsapple, director of communications for the Department of Justice, the amount it costs to run the North Slave Correction Facility is not based on the prison population. There are minimal costs for things like food, she said, but she did not have those numbers immediately available.

The jail's operating budget was $10.8 million for the 2008-09 year, and Holsapple said that would have been the same regardless of the number of prisoners.

Bardak said more funding should be spent on legal aid and programs to help people stay out of jail, rather than on prosecution and incarceration.

She said many of the people incarcerated while awaiting trial are only held because they've failed to appear in court when they're supposed to - a problem, she suggested, may be partly the fault of the legal system.

Bardak said she's heard it can take up to 20 court appearances to resolve matters, and some people get frustrated with trying to fit that into their schedules while living their lives and dealing with other issues they may have.

"And that gets them locked up," she said.

Perhaps a better avenue for the Justice department to spend its money would be on bail programs where someone could have support while they're going through the legal system, she said.

"It could be residentially based, where a guy would check in and be in a supervised program where someone monitors and makes sure he gets to court," said Bardak.