Herb Mathisen
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 19, 2008

INUVIK - Premier Floyd Roland announced Tuesday the Arctic Tern Young Offenders Facility will be saved by adopting a reduced staffing model.

The facility had been slated to be shut down as part of the cuts to the NWT budget.

Roland said the reduced staffing model would save 14.5 positions and add $613,000 back to the budget.

Upon the announcement, Robert McLeod, MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes, grinned widely and received a handshake from fellow MLA Jackie Jacobson.

McLeod had vowed to fight "tooth and nail" against the closure, which would have affected 18 full-time employees, from the beginning of session on May 22.

"I did say that right off the bat, I'd fight it tooth and nail, right to the end. And I did," said McLeod, in an interview Wednesday. "I should say, we did. I had the support of all committee members when the motion came up."

"It worked out well at the end and the fact that (Cabinet) listened to us is a huge step."

On May 29, regular MLAs voted unanimously to recommend the reinstatement of $613,000 to fund the facility.

Jackson Lafferty, minister of Justice, maintained the building had structural damage and was "severely underutilized."

"Having two or no inmates in the facility, having 20 staff, plus seven relief staff to look after a facility, and $2.5 million to operate the facility," said Lafferty, was enough to justify its closure.

Throughout the session, McLeod had argued against shutting down a building which, he said, cost $14 million to build in 2002, before an engineer's report could determine if there was any serious structural damage to the building.

He also questioned the message the government was sending to employees who were told to go out and get trained to work at the facility and were then given pink slips.

Most important to McLeod was that potential changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act would mean the detention of more young offenders..

"If the act changes, they'll need the facility," said McLeod on Wednesday.

McLeod said he worried that if the facility shut down in Inuvik, young offenders would be moved to Yellowknife. If the act changed, he had concerns that a new facility would be built in Yellowknife.

McLeod said Wednesday he had received e-mails of gratitude from workers at the centre.

"They're just kind of thankful this whole thing is over and the closure of Arctic Tern is deferred for a while," he said.

It is not yet known for how long the facility will remain open.

Inuvik Mayor Derek Lindsay said he was happy the centre was staying open, saying the jobs provided will be good for the community, given a forecasted slow season in the development and exploration sector.

"I'm glad they won't close it, because it doesn't look like there will be many jobs here this winter," he said.

"We can't lose any more jobs here in town."

Lindsay did want to find out how the facility could be more effectively used.

"It just doesn't seem financially viable if there were only four inmates there," he said. "Will they change it to a men's and women's facility to justify the usage?"

- with files from Dez Loreen