Mount Lorne MLA Steve Cardiff says he doubts there will be a new correctional facility in Whitehorse before the Yukon Party's mandate runs out in 2011.

"I'm not really a betting person but, the way things are looking now, I'd say the odds of Premier (Dennis) Fentie being on hand to cut the ribbon for the new jail are next to nil," the NDP Justice critic said Tuesday.

"Even the latest round of patchwork on the existing structure is far behind schedule and running up a bill that's twice what it was supposed to cost."

The New Democrat said Department of Justice officials gave their assurances when he toured the old Whitehorse Correctional Centre last September that the latest round of renovations to the 41-year-old building would be tendered within a month and completed by March 31.

"Obviously, that isn't going to happen, and now they're trying to keep the price under $1 million for a retrofit that was supposed to cost $500,000," Cardiff said.

"It's no wonder people are skeptical about this government's ability to deliver capital projects on time and on budget."

Even if the new facility is finished by the end of 2011, the current target date, that still means inmates and corrections staff will be locked in their current limbo for almost three more years, Cardiff noted.

"The renovations were supposed to allow a period of transition to introduce new programming elements that will be a feature of the new centre," he said.

"But the longer it takes to get the new facility in place, the harder it will be to maintain a positive climate for healing and rehabilitation."

Cardiff said many of the new renovations were intended to provide female inmates with more space, more privacy, increased access to outdoor exercise, more counselling and training programs, and a "more humane" living environment.

"Now the department is trying to shave the lowest bid by about $300,000," he said. "I hope it won't be at the expense of the female inmates, who are being housed in badly-overcrowded conditions."

Cardiff is once again urging the government to give the jail replacement priority attention.

"After nearly $2.5 million in renovations, not one single shovelful of dirt has been turned," he said.

"The premier derailed the process within a few months of taking office (in 2002).

"I wish I could be more optimistic about this project finally seeing the light of day, but the premier hasn't shown much sense of urgency so far."