Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not sure if the concern I have falls under the category of corrections. This is a situation which was brought to my attention. I have been aware of it all along, however, it has been brought to my attention this past weekend. It is the whole area of banishment from the communities. I know of three particular cases in my constituency where men who have been charged with different crimes, and through an arrangement with the courts it might be the justice of the peace and the RCMP, are banished from their communities until their court dates.
In one of my communities there is this man who was banished for over one year. Once they are banished they must fend for themselves in another community. It causes hardships on the person as well as the community or camp which he decides to be banished to. In this particular case this man was banished to Fort Simpson, he then went to a bush camp for awhile and now he is down in the Fort Norman area. His court date is not set until May.
Recently another young man was banished from a community and he is in Fort Simpson. He is living around the community sleeping at different people's homes. Another man who is also banished from his community is travelling around the country and he is broke. It is not a very good system. We do not know if a person who goes to another community is going to be welcomed. He may be welcome for a couple of weeks but when he stays for months it gets very difficult, to take care of them, especially if they have no income.
In a couple of the cases the young men are the ones who provide wood and water to their parents. To take that away you are not only making the young man who is banished from the community suffer you are also making the whole family worry about him, they experience anxiety until their court date. It is a very difficult system which we have and it is totally foreign to the Dene people.
It is very hard to understand what this justice system is about especially when you treat the whole family like this. It has been going on for years. It is done on a more regular basis now. Because Fort Simpson is the centre, people who are banished from the smaller communities automatically go to Fort Simpson. It becomes very hard for the people in the communities as well as the individuals. They have to endure this until the court date. In some cases the court dates are postponed indefinitely. This is a very difficult situation. I am wondering if the Minister is aware of these situations. Is there something in place that deals with the situation or are we stuck with this indefinitely? I would appreciate if the Minister can respond to this, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.