The province announced Wednesday plans to centralize services for female youth offenders in a single Burnaby unit, closing down those in Victoria and Prince George.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development, which oversees youth corrections, said the shuffle reflects the current 65% occupancy rate province wide. Average daily populations for girls in custody in Prince George and Victoria in 2011 were 2.1.
The move comes amid negotiations between the province and the union representing 25,000 public-sector employees — including job corrections workers — whose contracts expire at the end of March.
“We’re at the bargaining table with the B.C. Government, yet we weren’t given any advance notice of these closures,” said BC Government and Service Employees' Union president Darryl Walker.
The BCGEU said six of its members will lose their jobs in Prince George and 17 in Victoria. The union expects auxiliary staff members will also be affected.
The province said the centralization of girls’ services in Burnaby will create a larger grouping of girls, allowing the development and enhancement of programs that, for example, address addictions and trauma typically experienced by girls.
