Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been told that it's difficult for people to understand what has transpired in Hay River with respect to Justice and corrections facilities. So today I want to provide a brief summary of why I find it necessary to challenge the Minister of Justice and the information he's providing with respect to these proposed closures.
In an effort to address budget reduction targets in departments, the Department of Justice proposed savings by the closure of the Dene K'onia Young Offenders Facility and the closure of the remand unit at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre and the closure of the Hay River court registries. The planned closure of the court registries in Inuvik has since been reversed.
The Dene K'onia Young Offenders Facility employees 12 full-time and 10 casual employees. The stated savings to the government is $1.5 million. It accommodated open custody young offenders from anywhere in the territory. At any given time, those in care might have been from Yellowknife, the Delta or the South Slave and it has operated at near capacity. Since the completion of the North Slave Correctional Centre and the adjoining young offenders facility, it was decided that it would be cheaper to accommodate open custody young offenders in Yellowknife; thus, the planned closure in Hay River. The young offenders service was in Hay River long before the North Slave facility was built for $50 million, but now that is good justification to save $1.5 million. Do the math on that one, Mr. Speaker.
I have numerous issues with this plan, but let me clarify just a couple of those reasons. The Minister has repeatedly stated that it's less expensive to operate in Yellowknife. Since the Minister asserts that the $1.5 million saved is a net savings, my question was how much does it cost to take care of those same eight young offenders in Yellowknife. I think that's a reasonable question. The impacts of closing Dene K'onia to Hay River and the employees are very significant. Therefore, it's my responsibility to challenge and question the Minister and it's his job to defend his decisions. It's not good enough to say he doesn't know how many youth are in the facility and it is certainly not good enough to garner support and buy-in by stating misleading numbers such as 22 staff caring for one or two kids.
The same principles apply to information about the closure of the remand unit in Hay River. If it's based purely on economics, as the Minister stated, then I want to know the numbers and data that went into those economics. Again, I find it hard to accept that the net savings is $400,000 per year.
When I asked how that number was arrived at in relation to transport, Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.