Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to recognize that the decision to locate the young offenders facility was made last year under the previous Premier. The decision was made by Cabinet and FMB to locate a young offenders facility here in Yellowknife, this brand new facility. That decision was made here at that time. I think it is important for the public to know that the decision to do major renovations to the adult facility was also made in the previous Premier's tenure in the amount of $30 million, no different than what we are talking about today. So we should be clear about that.
As a new Minister of Justice since April, I have taken the time to revisit the decision by the Cabinet made last year to locate the young offenders facility here. I visited some of the facilities down south. I have revisited all the arguments made as to why it should be made here. And I have decided that it is not in the interest of the inmates or the staff of this government or the public for me to ask Cabinet to revisit that issue.
On the adult facility, the adult facility is located here. Again, last year, Cabinet decided to spent $30 million renovating this particular facility. It was such in scope that you could say we were trying to build a brand new car piece by piece, and it got to the point where after the decision was made, budgeting this project at $30 million, we contracted a firm to do more detailed costing of what it would cost this government to build such a facility, and it actually came in. This was done after the decision was made. Over the course of the winter, the consultants came back and said, in fact, it would cost you $35 million to do major renovations such as you are proposing. It is, in fact, cheaper to build a brand new facility over four years at $30 million. Thank you.