Nunavut to set up temporary extra jail in Iqaluit

The Nunavut government has plans to purchase a temporary jail for Iqaluit to take some pressure off the overcrowded, run-down Baffin Correctional Centre.

The request for proposals said the GN is facing an "emergency situation." It asked suppliers to make a pitch for providing a shelter to help "relieve the immediate danger of the overcrowding situation" at the Baffin Correctional Centre.

The type of building being considered is called a rapid deployment structure, and it looks like an airplane hangar from the outside. The buildingscan be set up quickly, and are widely used to house prisoners in the United States.

Baffin Correctional Centrewas built more than 25 years ago and was meant to house about 66 inmates. Now it often has 90 to 100 inmates at any given time.

Multiple jailhouse riots and a new federal law Bill C10that will put more people in jail for longer periods have added to the stress of an already outdated facility.

The proposed 12,000-square-foot building would be across from the current jail and house about 50 inmates.

Proposals are due June 4, and the goal is to have the temporary jail up and running by 2014.