GRANDE PRAIRIE — Municipal politicians in northern Alberta plan to pressure the Stelmach government into reversing a decision to close a young offenders centre in their region.
The facility in Grande Prairie is slated to close Wednesday and 10 teens currently housed there have been sent to Edmonton.
The government announced in last week’s budget that shutting down the centre would save between $2 million and $3 million.
The province has said the centre is under-utilized.
Grande Prairie Mayor Dwight Logan says he believes the decision to close the facility was made at the administrative, not the political level, so it’s important to let politicians know that the move does not make sense.
Logan also says the centre has an excellent track record and closing it will have a much broader social and economic impact than the government realizes.