"Would you want a jail on your street?" Sensing Opposition and Support for a Youth Detention Centre in Ottawa

Abstract

This study aims to make sense of past opposition and support for prison building in and around Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, by examining the last new facility construction project of its kind in the region – the William E. Hay Youth Detention Centre (WHYDC). Engaging with literatures on prison siting and Ben-Moshe’s (2020) conceptualization of political and affective economies that contribute to the entrenchment of imprisonment, we argue that opposition based on a Not In My Backyard sentiment expressed vis-à-vis the WHYDC at the time of its placement offers insight into potential fissures that can be mined and shifted in current struggles against prison construction premised on Not In Any Backyard arguments that reject carceral expansion altogether, creating other ways of sensing and doing justice that challenge and serve as alternatives to criminalization and punishment. To this end, this paper begins by reviewing literature on prison construction followed by a brief note on method. From there, we trace the rise of the WHYDC, along with arguments advanced by opponents and proponents of the project. We then end with a discussion on what can be learned from the WHYDC experience and how that can be applied to the current campaigns to stop carceral expansion, including the proposed Kemptville prison.