Hon. Dennis Patterson's return to Question W9-12(2), asked by Mr. Bernhardt on February 25, 1992: A request was made for a list of all cases in which an absolute discharge has been granted for sexual offences by territorial court judges within the past five years. This was followed up by a request about whether this data was available from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the regional Crown office and our own territorial court registries.
In all cases the response was that it is not possible to retrieve this information without doing an individual file review. Such a review would take weeks. In the current period of fiscal restraint, resources are not available to conduct such a study. A justice information system, which will in the future be capable of tracking such information, is being tested by the territorial court registries and should soon be operational. Regardless, I am advised that absolute discharges are very rare for sexual offences. "The Sexual Assault and Sentencing Study," released in 1991, which I will distribute to Members, was funded by our Department of Justice and the NWT Law Foundation. It reviewed cases before the courts of the Northwest Territories during the period January 1, 1988, through December 31, 1989. The study gives a range of sentences in table 8.31. No reference is made to an absolute discharge.
On the issue of the training of judges on topics relating to gender issues, sexual assault or sentencing of sex offenders, training is something which the judiciary administers for itself, though judges may attend sessions which are not sponsored by the judiciary. The Western Judicial Education Centre has had an intensive three-year commitment to judicial education in the areas of aboriginal peoples and gender equality. Their programs have been highly acclaimed by Canadian and American experts. At their most recent week-long workshop, held in Yellowknife last June, there were sessions on both gender and sexual assault issues.