$81 Reasons to Stop the Youth Superjail in Ontario

Dear Minister Mary Anne Chambers:

The new superjail for youth in Brampton - the Greater Toronto Youth Centre - will cost Ontario taxpayers 81.1 million dollars to build. The 81 Reasons Campaign is against it.

We Don't Need a Youth Superjail. Young people and their families need good schools, recreation centres, family support and appropriate social services. They don't need more jails. We know that well funded schools, community centres and professional supports help youth develop into productive members of our society. Many youth in custody have mental health disorders, are survivors of violence and have been involved in the child welfare system. Incarceration further marginalizes disadvantaged youth, traumatizes young women, discriminates against queer youth, aboriginal youth and youth of color and channels youth into adult prisons. 

We call on you to stop the construction of the GTA Youth Centre (GTAYC), in Brampton!

We ask that you follow the recommendations of the David Meffe Inquest (a sixteen year old who died in custody at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre) which outline that:

• planning for youth in conflict with the law should involve the voices of youth, community members and social service professionals
• youth should not be held in large facilities far from their homes.

We ask you to follow the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child, including Article 37 and 40 on use of least punishment and alternatives to incarceration.

We ask you to take steps to stop the criminalization of youth, and to end the disproportionate representation of black and aboriginal youth and economically disadvantaged youth in jails.

In Ontario, we must focus on the use of alternatives to incarceration, if we don't, we will continue to see deaths in custody of young people like David Meffe and James Lonnie.

Madame Minister, we ask you to increase funding to community alternatives to incarceration, create smaller community-based centres for rehabilitation, counselling and prevention and restore funding to education, recreation and much needed social services. We also ask that you stop the building of the youth superjail, the GTA Youth Centre (GTAYC), in Brampton.