Mr. Chairman, the level of information and interest which is in the communities certainly needs to be gauged in the interests of everyone. I have spoken with an elder in Inuvik in the hotel lobby about a year ago. He was sitting there, and I told him there was a great deal of interest in justice in the small communities. I talked with him for about 15 minutes. He said, "I have been doing it on my own for a year and a half now." I did not know this. He went into great detail about all the time and effort he has made in trying to help the judges deal with young offenders, and with helping young offenders before they get into trouble, having young offenders sentenced to his care. This leads to the work which we are trying to do now, in setting up conferences in different parts of the territories. There is going to be one in Inuvik some time in March, not unlike the justice conference which was held in the Deh Cho in the previous year. This is to bring interested community people together to share their experiences, their work, and what it is that they see themselves doing, so that we can start to flush out the level of work, awareness and knowledge that is there, that we have not had a chance to bring together. We may not be able to encourage the communities who do not have a high level of interest to set up justice committees, as it may be premature. We can certainly encourage and develop the dialogue which is needed to spark the interest so that communities can be encouraged and supported if they wish to get into these type of initiatives.
Stephen Kakfwi on Committee Motion 77-12(3): To Adopt Recommendation 14
In the Legislative Assembly on March 2nd, 1993. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 77-12(3): To Adopt Recommendation 14
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
March 1st, 1993
Page 707
See context to find out what was said next.