Former detention centre transformed into Indigenous-led cultural hub

By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KIRKLAND LAKE – A former youth detention centre in Kirkland Lake has found new life as an Indigenous-led training and cultural space. North Eastern Ontario Family and Children’s Services (NEOFACS) has transferred ownership of its property at 175 Government Road — the former Pineger Youth Centre — to Keepers of the Circle, marking what both organizations describe as a meaningful act of reconciliation. “This is NEOFACS putting action into reconciliation,” Bertha Cormier, Keepers of the Circle’s executive director, told TimminsToday. The transfer follows several years of collaboration between the two organizations and approval from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. The Pineger site, which operated from 1993 until its closure in 2021 following a provincial restructuring of youth justice services, had…

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