August 15, 2003
Kangirsuk keeps reintegration centre
"Halfway house"
means six jobs
ODILE
NELSON
Kangirsuk will hold on
to a handful of precious jobs, after the Quebec and Kativik governments officially
announced that a new Makitautik reintegration centre for male offenders will
be built in the Ungava Bay community.
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PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Liberal
MNA Geoff Kelley (left), Pierre Corbeil, the provincial government's minister
responsible for northern Quebec, and Minnie Airo, president of the Makitautik
centre's board (sitting in front), sign an agreement to create a reintegration
centre in Kangirsuk. (PHOTO BY ODILE NELSON)
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Jacques Chagnon, minister
of public security, Minnie Airo, president of the Makitautik centre's board,
and Johnny Adams, chair of the Kativik Regional Government, signed the $3 million
agreement during Chagnon's August 10 and 11 tour of Nunavik.
In an interview with Nunatsiaq
News after the ceremony, Chagnon acknowledged that the regional government's
talks on a new centre began under the former Parti Québécois government.
But, as a member of the
treasury board who has also worked extensively in southern school systems, he
was only too happy to champion the project.
"This will help 14
youths [men] avoid jail and help them reshape their way of doing things"
he said. "So I concluded this file and went to the treasury board and convinced
them to go ahead with this project."
Joseph Annahatak, Kangirsuk's
mayor, was also pleased with the decision - albeit for other reasons.
"It creates six full
time jobs here, and I would hate to see it go from here. The people have worked
very hard. It also creates jobs for night guards and sometimes hires local elders
as guides on excursions," he said.
There is already a centre
in Kangirsuk, but the building is old and cramped. The new facility should be
built by 2004, and will have 14 spaces.
Chagnon said he would support
the idea of a similar facility for Nunavik's other coast.
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