Mr. Chairman, part of the problem that I have, is that the if we talk about a separate justice system, and I think it is possible now, I think it is possible because of the very strong possibility, I hope, that the Constitution will be amended to include the third order of government, that aboriginal form of government. I think this would make a very strong case for a whole different form of government, that aboriginal people can develop themselves, which can include a different justice system.
My assessment of it is, that ultimately it is the aboriginal people, their elected people, and the communities that will decide that. Even if they decide it, it certainly will not be for some period of time. What are the choices? I think that is what comes at me from the Member's comments. Should we stop doing what we can to remedy the present system, and put all our efforts into coming up with a whole different aboriginal justice system, or should we bank on doing both? If there is a legitimate call from aboriginal communities for a separate justice system, established basis for it, then should we not, also, in the interim, do everything we can to lessen the pain, the suffering, and the alleged injustices that are occurring as a result of the present system. A separate justice system, at best, would be, at least, a decade away from being developed, or at least implemented.
Those are the comments that I wanted to make. What I see as a new Minister of Justice, is a lot of work, by a lot of people, to do preparatory work for making changes. We have a massive document, done by a group of very highly qualified people, who have given us the Gender Equality Report, which I think has massive amounts of recommendations that have been forwarded from people, from communities, and all walks of life. We have now, within a few days, I hope, the possibility of tabling the Family Law Review report, which the Member has been very frustrated in waiting for.
I have done a quick review of that report, and it seems to have been put together by, again, a massive amount of people at the community level, from the aboriginal organizations, support groups, and from every segment of our communities. It definitely has many of the elements that the Member has spoken on, on different occasions over the years, as I have heard.
As a new Minister, one of the problems that I have, and I appreciate Mr. Todd's dislike for talk, but I have not been prone to preaching about all the grand things that I am going to do. It is coming from a lot of different places, I can do that very well, I know myself well enough to say if you ask me to stand on the soap box and brag well in advance of doing anything, that is what I intend to do. I can do that. It seems to me that the biggest challenge that we still have is to accept that it is not going to be Steve Kakfwi or John Todd that is going to remedy, or come up with solutions, or Sam Gargan. But rather, it is going to come from the kind of approach we take. I have said it before, and I think it needs to be said over and over again, that ultimately, it is going to be in our making the commitment. I think blindly, but with full faith that the communities are going to come up with the remedies. The approach that is going to resolve many of these problems, that this is really a call on this government, and no other government, as far as I know, in the history of Canada for that matter, has ever done something like that, which is to say, we know we are not going to solve the problems. Somehow we have to jump into a situation where we are not in control, that we have to share the control where we have to, except that the communities are going to have to take ownership, and tell us what they want. We will have to assist them with resources for them to come up with the solutions. That, I think, is going to be the way we do it, and the call for a separate aboriginal justice system, is what, I think, the Member sees in it. The aboriginal people by themselves can do it.
My view, is that in the short term, we still have to ask communities what we can do to alleviate the staggering problems that we have, as people, about how our people are sentenced, what kind of support they have while they are incarcerated here, and what happens to them when they are let out. There is a problem of how children are treated in the court system, and how women are treated in the court system. There is staggering problems in corrections. For instance, I had a short visit to Fort Smith, where there is a correctional institute for women. There are women from the eastern Arctic there, and I asked the question, "how is it, in the cultural context?" They are in a community that is really not in their own country, they are at least a 1,000 miles away from their homes. They are, you know, the staff, the kind of staff that Inuit people would staff for corrections, if they were in control of it. Would the kind of programs, be programs that the Inuit people themselves, elders would say that this is what I think our Inuit inmates should have.
Those kind of questions jump out at me, and I know that there is a need for new correctional facilities to be built very soon, if we do not cut back on the amount of people who are being incarcerated. We asked the question, "are communities prepared and interested in sentencing with judges and J.P.s about, instead of sending them all to Yellowknife?" Are our communities, willing, interested, and able to take young offenders, for instance, and even adult offenders, to take responsibility for their own people, instead of handing them over to a court system, a justice system that was not of their own making?
I think I can answer those questions, and I say, but it is not the day to get up, and stand up, on a soap box. I believe, absolutely, that the justice system has to be changed, and it has to address the dire needs of women being treated fairly and equally. It has to be altered to adjust for the fact that there is massive violence in our communities against women and children. It seems lopsided for many of us, biased of property instead of people, biased towards women, and against women, and totally not adequately structured for the treatment of children. Many of our institutions, and acts, need to be altered. New acts need to be drawn up to focus on the treatment of children, for instance.