Don't Build the Brampton Super-Jail for Young People

Apr. 11, 2006. 01:00 AM
The Toronto Star

VANESSA LU
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Don't build the Brampton super-jail for young people. That was the message from activists holding a quiet vigil at the Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the release of findings from the David Meffe inquest.

"The jury clearly recommended no super-jail. It's not the way to go," said Cheryl Milne, a lawyer with Justice for Children and Youth. "We're really dismayed at the failure to look at smaller facilities."

Meffe was 16 when he hanged himself on Oct. 1, 2002, by attaching his bedsheet to a metal bar fixed on his bunk at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre. The 130-bed Etobicoke facility was closed in June 2004.

Meffe was not convicted of any violent crime. He was facing charges of stealing cheques from family members.

While his family did not attend yesterday's memorial, his mother issued a statement urging the province to adopt the jury recommendations.

"Young people are still at risk," says Filippa Meffe. "Our family will never be the same. The pain of losing our beloved David will never diminish. Please do not allow David's death to have been in vain."

Milne pointed out that having smaller facilities closer to the community is better than one centre in Brampton, far from public transit.

Currently, some Toronto youth are housed in Hamilton and Cobourg.

James Ip, a spokesperson for Mary Anne Chambers, minister for children and youth services, said the 192-bed Brampton facility is designed with youth in mind. They would be housed in individual compounds in campus-style grounds.

Construction on the jail, which is scheduled to open in 2008, should begin later this year.