The Yukon government has taken a small step toward building a new prison in Whitehorse, but planning is not moving quickly enough to satisfy inmates like Jeff Smith.

April's territorial budget included $3.2 million for a study on the design of a new facility.

Inmate Jeff Smith said overcrowding and air quality at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre are particularly bad.
(CBC)

"It involves a lot of specialists, engineers, architects, people who do planning for a living [and] our own property management agency," said Sharon Hickey, director of community and correctional services with the Yukon government. "That's why the planning costs what it does, and it generally takes a couple of years to get the plan right."

That won't help Smith, who is serving a two-year sentence for drug-related offences.

During a tour CBC News took Wednesday of the current Whitehorse Correctional Centre, built in 1967, Smith said his cell, which holds three people, has air quality issues.

"No opening windows in here. No ventilation at all," said Smith. "Fresh air an hour a day. It's pathetic."

Inmates and staff at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre have argued for years that a new prison building is desperately needed, saying the present building is overcrowded and becoming unhealthy.

Cellblocks and minimum-security dormitories alike are running out of room and the facility is starting to show its age.

Yukon politicians of all stripes agree a new jail is needed, but the $3.2 million set aside is only for the design, not for actual construction.

In the meantime, Hickey said officials and staff are doing what they can to address the difficulties inmates are experiencing in the current facility.

"We certainly try to get offenders out in the fresh air as much as we possibly can," she said. "There's recreation offered inside. There was an excellent carving program offered last year, and we offer programs on an ad hoc basis as resources are available."