Thank you. Registries and court services. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Has there been a study or a report done to determine how many communities are actually in need of assistance to acquire suitable facilities?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do not have that information but from common knowledge it is likely the majority of the smaller communities in the NWT do not have mortuary or deceased body facilities.

Thank you. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In another area, since my time is almost up, I know the department has been working with a committee trying to establish a legal program, particularly in the western NWT. Could we get an update on where this particular venture is at, at this time?

Thank you. Ms. Sanders.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is a committee functioning under the leadership of Arctic College in Fort Smith with expertise from different areas related to the Justice system. What the committee is still trying to establish is what are the actual training needs. There are some different possibilities. Is the program aimed at training people who would later go on to become lawyers? Is it aimed at training people for fairly specialized positions as court clerks or something which is limited in number? Is it aimed at training people to be court workers? If so, they will also need specialized on-the-job training. Is it a general kind of training that could prepare people for a variety of roles in the Justice system? As far as I know, that working group for the western Arctic is still continuing on, looking at those different possibilities.

There has also been discussion of where community development fits into that, whether that is a separate course or where that all fits together. They are also looking at the work that has been done in Nunavut for similar kinds of training there.

Thank you. We are dealing with the Department of Justice, 1998-99 main estimates. The activity summary is registries and court services. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. Proceed with your motion, please, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. The motion is in order. It is not debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. We shall continue until we conclude this particular department. Registries and court services, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $9.479 million. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. Page 7-11, community justice and corrections, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $25.162 million. Agreed? Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A few days back the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs had undertaken to take a lead role in the development of a community development program so that the colleges could have a certificate and/or diploma program for community development. This, obviously, would include community justice. The Minister for MACA was hoping to get the different Ministers in those areas...there would be a requirement for a course. The view at the present time is since all the communities are now getting into community justice, there should be a course in community justice. Would the department undertake to cooperate with the Minister of MACA's staff and contribute financially toward development of a Community Justice Program that could be taught at the college level?

Thank you. Mr. Minister, would you endeavour to answer this one department of MACA, which is involved but not here? Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Justice is prepared to work with anyone, including MACA, to sit down and talk about what a program would look like, how it would be taught and to whom, et cetera. The department is also very committed to the concept of community justice and moving that forward. It is pretty much impossible right now to be committing dollars or contributions to that, but we are interested in working with others on that.

Thank you. Community justice and correction. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Developing a community justice course would not cost that much. We are not talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. It probably would be a small amount, maybe $25,000 or something like that. I am not sure of the exact price, but at least if the Minister would not totally close the door. We do expect the communities to operate community justice committees and to start taking on sentencing circles and the rest of these types of things so that we can have an alternative to stacking up inmates like cord wood at the YCC, Iqaluit and other correctional centres. If we are going to do that, we have to give the tools to the community people. A community justice course is a big step along the way. This would be part of an overall course, and we would not expect the department to go beyond the community justice course. It would be part of the whole community development course. Could I ask the Minister if he would at least consider it and depending on what happens, possibly in the future contribute financially as well if the opportunity arises?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I said earlier, the community justice area is an important area for myself personally. It is an important area for the department now and it was before I got to the department. It is one that is moving forward very well in some communities in Nunavut and

it is moving along over here in the western Arctic too. It is not well defined in some areas. In some communities you have community justice committees that are operating well. It is important that we always look at improving the way we do any particular program, and I think community justice is somewhat in its infancy in today's stage, although people argue that you had community justice in the past. The way we do it today, it is new and we are always learning new things. The department does spend, according to the numbers I have, $2.355 million in community justice and some in contributions to community justice committees, in some research in coordinating work. As I said earlier, yes, we can consider, we can talk to other departments, other individuals and in general, say this is an important area, but saying an amount or saying they will contribute dollars in the current year or in the coming year is just something I could not. Right now, it is premature.

Thank you. Community justice and corrections. I have on the list, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the Minister for indicating he is willing to discuss the matter with MACA or at least his people would. I would like to move onto the area of federal inmate repatriation. Could we get an update on what is being done in the area of bringing federal inmates back to the north? Most federal inmates, as we all know, are down south and some of them never come back until their time is finished. The social programs committee had begun to look in this area. We were discouraged from the response of the department. What has the department done since last summer? Has there been any movement in this area?