BRANDON — The mayor of Dauphin said his community looks forward to construction of the modern jail, billed as a centre of justice and highlighted by the province in its recent throne speech, to revitalize the economy and beef up law enforcement.
Mayor David Bosiak told the Brandon Sun the 8,000-strong community is hopeful that the construction of the new facility will result in the creation of at least 50 to 100 well-paying jobs.
“The spinoffs of that, (such as) folks that maybe were in the community and left will return; new people will come to our community and their families with them. Our enrolment in schools will go up, which is a good thing. We think this may also help spur a bit of a housing build in our community.”
The former Dauphin Correctional Institution (right), which closed in 2020, is shown next to the courthouse in this 2012 photo. (Boris Minkevich / Free Press files)
The jail is part of the NDP government’s public safety strategy that was announced earlier this month, which aims to improve policing and safety in rural Manitoba.
The century-old jail in the city was shuttered in 2020 by the Tory government of Brian Pallister.
“What we learned from the last closure was that we lost people that worked in the facility — whether sheriffs or security people, correctional officers, some nurses, and other positions that were all attached to the old correctional facility,” Bosiak said.
“We lost a bunch of teachers. We lost a bunch of medical technicians, a few nurses, others, because they went with their spouses to a new location. And so we lost a lot when the last facility closed, and we hope that the new facility will bring much of that back.”
Bosiak said the city will take care of infrastructure requirements, such as water and sewer services, and road improvements.
“As a municipality, we will not act as a stumbling block. We are about smoothing barriers or reducing any barriers to entry.”
The timeline for construction hasn’t been revealed.
In an email Tuesday, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said he could not provide a specific timeline, but emphasized the province considers the project important to its public safety mission and steering criminals toward a better future with rehabilitation resources.
“Our government is committed to building a Centre of Justice in Dauphin that will include culturally appropriate supports, educational resources and vocational training,” said Wiebe.
“We know that rural Manitoba needs the supports to get tough on crime and the causes of crime, and this new centre will help rehabilitate offenders and set them on a pathway to success… To ensure we get this right, we’re consulting with stakeholders and look forward to announcing more details in the future.”
Bosiak said the location in Dauphin is key; it will allow families to visit inmates closer to home, which will support the rehabilitative approach. That’s in contrast to the current situation in which inmates are sent to the Brandon jail, which is 160 kilometres to the south.
— Brandon Sun