Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee Members are also quite concerned that the announcement of this new facility, as well as similar announcements made by this department, have been made without consultation with Members, and before funds to proceed have been approved by the Assembly.
Finally, Members expressed a concern regarding the respective bureaucratic responsibility for victims' programs and for parolees and offenders on probation. Apparently, Social Services' staff still have the responsibility to deal with offenders on parole or probation. Yet the responsibility for handling victims' assistance is with the Department of Justice. The committee urges the Minister to discuss this issue with the Minister of Health and Social Services. Committee Members feel it would be more appropriate for Justice to retain responsibility for offenders in and out of jail, and for Social Services to take over the task of assisting victims of crime.
Police Services And First Nations Community Policing
In the meantime, the government should look at ways to enhance community-based policing. Programs such as Crimes Stoppers, Neighbourhood Watch, or police auxiliary organizations would allow citizens to remove some of the less specialized workload from police officers, as well as providing a stronger sense of community pride and protection among northern residents. The government should also consult with the RCMP and municipalities to consider options such as the provision of clerical staff to local RCMP offices, in order to permit RCMP officers to focus more of their time and attention on actual police work.
The committee is pleased to see the progress of the First Nations community policing initiative. Pilot projects in Coral Harbour and Fort Good Hope are demonstrating that community-based policing, with assistance from the RCMP, can be a more effective and efficient foundation for providing police services to northerners. Committee Members look forward to seeing the final evaluation of these pilot projects.
That is the Standing Committee on Finance report, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.