N.W.T. young offender staff to merge with adult jail

The N.W.T. government plans to save money by merging staff and administration from the North Slave Young Offender Facility with the North Slave Correctional Centre — according to staff not authorized to speak to the media.

Employees were made aware of the proposed change last week — the same time news broke that 58 government employees would be affected by cost-cutting measures in the territory's upcoming budget.

Corrections officers told CBC the young offender facility in Yellowknife will continue to operate, but will be run by administrators at the adult jail. 

As part of the downsizing, employees will be transferred from the young offender facility to vacant positions in the adult jail. Some employees were upset about the proposed change, saying there's a big difference between working with adults and youth. But employees also said the young offender facility was operating below capacity, and a merger wasn't a total surprise.

The department of Justice declined to confirm the merger, but said a proposed change is in the works. The Minister of Justice declined comment until the territorial budget is tabled on Wednesday.