Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Finance is pleased to see the department respond positively to our recommendations with the development of the pro-active strategy on violence and the commencement of negotiations for additional aboriginal RCMP constables and community policing pilot projects. The committee feels there is merit to reviewing the potential benefits of a federal penitentiary and has asked the department to speed up the consideration of this issue.
With respect to community justice initiatives, we cannot wait for the communities. The Department of Justice must provide a vision, support and leadership to coax community development. The committee believes that our present justice system is not entirely suitable for aboriginal people. We must examine ways to improve the system. We should consider having elders involved in the judges' council so that they can introduce aboriginal cultural values to the justice system. The justice system is sometimes insensitive to the needs of the people it should serve.
There are many things which the government allocates resources to, such as legal aid, court parties and travel costs that do not necessarily meet the needs of aboriginal people. There is a clear lack of vision in terms of recognizing and meeting the needs of the people of the north. This deficiency is reflected in this and previous budgets. The Northwest Territories should have a home grown justice system. There are models we can learn from in other jurisdictions. It is our understanding the previous government visited the Navajo Nation and examined their method for running an independent justice system.
Mr. Chairman, there are a couple of recommendations which the committee would like to make at this time.