Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that I think the people of the Northwest Territories are anxious to take responsibility for looking after their young people and anxious to see alternatives to institutions where possible and where appropriate. I know that there are legal requirements and there are security requirements which require that some young people be locked up in buildings. However, I think most of our young offenders are not hard core criminals. They are kids who are crying out for attention, who are committing relatively minor offenses, which appear serious in the eyes of the law. They are crimes such as break and enter which carry very heavy penalties under the criminal code. These, in fact, are not the same kind of break and enters which we see in urban centres in the south. They are break and enters where kids are looking for alcohol. They are not threatening personal security. As I said, in some cases they are crying out for help. They are children of dysfunctional families, alcoholic parents, and they are in need of fulfilment and guidance. I think we have the
resources in our communities to assist those young people. We have elders and people who are experienced on the land, who are able to take care of those young people and from what I know, they are also willing to take care of those young people.
It is my understanding, of the discussions of community justice which have taken place in the Northwest Territories, very often while people may be hesitant to take responsibility in sophisticated areas such as fine option programs, and dealing with difficult issues such as family violence and spousal assault, if you say we would like you to help take care of the young people from your community who are in difficulty, most people would say this is something which they feel they could do. They know these kids and they know how to help. The way to help them is to teach them traditional ways, ideally in a setting which is outside the community and based on the land.
Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to make those comments. The department has just taken on the responsibility for corrections. I believe the new assistant deputy minister for corrections is still not in place. I believe that person is yet to be recruited. We do not expect miracles immediately. Recognizing that there are limited funds available and that new money is difficult to come by, could the Minister foresee ways in which the existing corrections budget could be reallocated? It is a staggering amount because the fact is operating 24-hour institutions is extremely expensive, particularly institutional care for these children who need help. They should be diverted away from institutions and toward native people taking care of their own children on the land, in bush camps, in appropriate homes, in our communities. I do not think our constituents would mind seeing some of those expensive institutions cut back or even shut down if they were replaced with these on-the-land community-based facilities. I do not think our people would be upset if we had, at the end of the day, fewer young offender institutions. There should be more involvement of elders and those people we know of in every community, who are very capable of providing role models to those children and providing them with fulfilment and guidance they may not have enjoyed in the upbringing that occurred in their particular family.
Recognizing the difficult financial times and the probable impossibility of getting new money, will it be possible, with ingenuity, flexibility, creativity and undoubtedly with the support of Members of this Assembly, for the Minister to find ways to get some young offenders programs up and running using the resources that are already in place in the corrections budget devoted to young offenders, which are now being spent on institutional programs in towns and communities? I would like the Minister's general comments on that proposition, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.