This committee will come to order. What is the wish of the committee? We were reviewing the Department of Justice, registries and court services, page 06-14. Is it the wish of the committee to continue with general comments? Agreed?

All right. Would the Minister like to have his witnesses appear? Sergeant-at-arms can you please escort the witnesses. For the record, we are not on general comments. Page 06-14, registries and court services. Mr. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Department Of Justice

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Geoff Bickert, deputy minister and Mr. Mike Rudolph, director of finance and administration for the Department of Justice.

Registries And Court Services

Thank you. The Department of Justice, page 06-14, registries and court services, total O and M, $7.845 million. Agreed?

Corrections, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

I had asked for total O and M for registries and court services and there was agreement. I moved over to corrections. Do you wish to return to registries and court services? Registries and court services is concluded. Corrections, total O and M, $19.727 million. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I can make a motion to move that tabled document into the committee of the whole.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the general trend is that we will continue to have difficulties with over-flow. Projections are that we will require additional beds in the next few years. This is what the statistics show and the other statistics we use to indicate what future needs will be.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I mentioned to the Members the other day that in January I had a meeting with the Solicitor General, Mr. Doug Lewis, to discuss the situation with federal inmates in southern institutions who are people from the Northwest Territories and are serving time, usually two years or more. They are serving time in about 25 different institutions in the south. The large majority of them are not high-risk, dangerous, or violent types of offenders. They are people from the communities who through a momentary lack of judgement or because of abuse of drugs or alcohol or because or personal problems, have committed crimes that are of a serious nature.

The Solicitor General and I discussed the idea that we should explore, without making any initial commitments, of finding a way which would make it attractive for the federal government to look at providing some money to the territorial government to take care of northern people who are serving time in southern penitentiaries. We could bring them back up here and provide facilities in the Northwest Territories so we could take back the majority of the inmates in the south, people who we can provide good programming for, people who should be moved back to the north because this is their home, people who should not be in southern penitentiaries that provide programs which are not suitable for these types of inmates who are, culturally, totally out of their element. The federal Minister said he was prepared to make a commitment to have his staff meet with our officials to investigate that proposal. The first meeting of officials will happen during the month of March.

In our view, there is no interest at this time in looking at a federal penitentiary in the north, for a great number of reasons. One is simply that there is not a large number of hard and difficult to rehabilitate type criminals who come from the north. For the most part, we feel this type of people would be better served going to southern institutions where it is possible to provide specialized counselling and treatment for people of that nature.

The master development plan we discussed at the previous session with Members, tries to address a systematic way of looking at the present facilities we have. The plan tried to address the limitations they have and the possibilities they present for the increasing number of people who will be incarcerated in the years to come. It has a built-in component of how to use the rising interest from community groups and community leaders to take responsibility for both adult offenders and young offenders at the community level and how we might use existing resources and existing facilities to the maximum. That is what the master development plan helps us do.

Members should also know we are looking at ways in which we can try to meet the interests of communities which want to help in dealing with their own people, whether they are young offenders or adult offenders. Communities are interested in taking some responsibility for sentencing and providing adequate programs for these people who will be serving time. They also to see what could be used from the aboriginal way of life. They want to use sentencing out on the land and cultural values and perspectives that aboriginal people have to try to help these people. That is the context in what we are working in right now, so there is a very real attempt to try to put it all together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.