Almost any move a government makes is bound to arouse some opposition. You can鈥檛 please everyone all the time. But the provincial government鈥檚 decision to close the Victoria Youth Custody Centre has generated firm opposition from almost every quarter.
If the government had first consulted with the appropriate stakeholders before making what is almost universally regarded as a bad decision, perhaps a workable solution could have been found.
On April 28, Stephanie Cadieux, minister of children and family development, announced that the government can no longer afford to keep the custody centre open to house an average of 15 boys a night.
Offenders will be held at the two remaining youth-custody centres in Burnaby and Prince George. Some Victoria youths will have to spend time in police cells for pre-court detention, remand and short sentences.
To understate, the reaction has not been positive.
Putting young offenders in police cells, even for short periods, is a bad idea, says representative for children and youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, exposing youths to more serious offenders, and to the screaming, yelling or threatening that often takes place in police cells.
Turpel-Lafond and Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer, said in a joint commentary, published May 6 in the sa国际传媒, that sending young offenders to Lower Mainland detention facilities 鈥渨ill be both destabilizing and isolating. They will be cut off from family and friends.鈥�
They also feared the loss of services the centre provides, such as drug and alcohol counselling.
Putting young offenders in police cells doesn鈥檛 sit well with the police, either.
Chief Frank Elsner said Victoria police will refuse to hold young offenders in Victoria鈥檚 police cells.
鈥淭he police department is adamant this is not an appropriate place to house young offenders,鈥� Elsner said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not set up for it. And from a human rights perspective, it鈥檚 not the appropriate place to put young offenders.鈥�
Saanich Police Chief Bob Downie has similar concerns.
A disproportionate number of young offenders are aboriginal, and First Nations leaders are angry that they were not consulted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely outrageous to think that the province would allow this to happen, that they would be a party to this,鈥� said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of sa国际传媒 Indian Chiefs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 blatant hypocrisy, particularly when this government has attempted to promote itself as families-first.鈥�
Grand Chief Doug Kelly, chairman of the First Nations Health Council, said family connections are important in getting young offenders back on the right track, and detention off-Island will make family contact difficult.
鈥淭hat is a very serious threat to that individual and their ability to learn from their mistakes, maintain the support of their family and get themselves moving in the right direction,鈥� Kelly said.
Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin hopes to put together a delegation of local mayors and police chiefs to persuade the government to keep the centre open.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the difference between being efficient and saving $4 million, or being effective and changing some young kids鈥� lives in the right way,鈥� said Fortin. 鈥淲here do we place our values?鈥�
Other experts warn that putting youth in adult cells could raise legal issues. The Youth Criminal Justice Act allows for the temporary detention of a young person before being sentenced but also states that young offenders should be held in a youth custody facility, separate from any adult.
If Cadieux and other provincial officials had called a meeting with municipalities, police forces, First Nations, the youth justice system and the representative for children and youth, perhaps an acceptable solution could have been worked out.
It鈥檚 not too late to do that.
