Staff
The new Ge-Da-Gi-Binez Youth Centre here has been sitting empty since an altercation there last Wednesday evening that left two staff members injured and two teens facing assault charges.
But plans are underway to get the six youths back in the facility, as well as ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
“They’re definitely coming back. We are developing a work plan,” said Couchiching Chief Chuck McPherson, who also is president of Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, the agency that operates the youth centre.
“We anticipate they are going to be brought back gradually.
“We are developing a work plan to deal with that particular type of incident and how we can remedy such incidents in the future, to prevent them from happening,” he noted.
“The management, they’re going to do it in concert with the ministry, and the work plan is going to be reviewed by the board,” Chief McPherson added. “But we’re not talking a great length of time because the requirement for beds in the northwest is at a high, so we can’t have a facility sitting there empty.
“We have a service to provide, it has to be there,” he stressed.
“Like I said, we’re new in the business and we’re going to encounter some bumps in the road, and this happened to be the first one,” the chief said.
“But we know what happened and how to deal with it in the future,” he pledged. “We’re going to develop this work plan that’s going to be approved by the ministry and the board, and we’ll go from there.”
Chief McPherson said the incident has been blown “out of proportion” by the media, and he’s even heard people referring to the incident as “a riot,” which he’s feels is totally inaccurate.
“It was a minor incident. Because of us being new in the area of security, we contacted the ministry [of Children and Youth Services] and they made the call,” he noted, referring to the decision to have the six youths transferred to the young offenders facility in Thunder Bay.
“There was no damage to the facility at all,” he stressed. “It was a couple of rambunctious young gentlemen who happened to get out of hand, and necessitated the police being called in.
“It was just for the safety of all concerned.”
He also pointed out the public was at no time in danger since the incident was confined to the fenced-in recreation yard at the facility.
Fort Frances OPP officers responded to a call for assistance at the facility on Eighth Street after being contacted by from the manager of the Ge-Da-Gi-Binez Youth Centre shortly after 6:30 p.m.,
advising police that two youth centre workers had been assaulted by five youths who were in custody there.
As a result of an investigation, one 18-year-old male and one 15-year-old male were charged with assault.
Two workers who were assaulted at the centre sustained non-life threatening injuries. One staff person required medical attention, but later was released.
The local OPP continued its assistance to the facility by transporting all youths from the Ge-Da-Gi-Binez facility to another young offender facility in Thunder Bay.
While only five youths were involved in the altercation, a total of six were being detained at the time.
“The decision was made the one additional youth that was not involved in the incident would also be removed to give the agency [Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services] and ministry time required to review the situation,” Anne Smith, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, said Monday morning.
“The agency and the ministry are working together now to develop a plan to return the youth to the facility as soon as possible.
“The ministry has great confidence in the agency’s ability to operate this facility,” she added.
The $13.2-million Ge-Da-Gi-Binez Youth Centre, Canada’s first secure custody facility for aboriginal youth, first opened its doors March 23.
It is meant to serve aboriginal youth aged 12-17 who require secure custody and detention in Northwestern Ontario.
