Good afternoon. I would like to thank the Member for Natilikmiot, Mr. Ningark for serving in my place during my absence. I understand you are pretty happy to see me back.

--Applause

Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Morin.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jim Antoine will be absent from the House for the remainder of the week to attend the Council of Ministers of Transportation meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Mr. Speaker, I also wish to advise Members that the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi will be leaving the House later today and will be absent for the remainder of the week to attend the Fisheries Ministers meeting in Victoria, British Columbia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Ministers' statements. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ministers' statements. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this House that I have received the Report on Crime and Corrections in the Northwest Territories, prepared by Management and Policy International. I will be referring to this document as the Evans Report, after its lead writer, John Evans. I will be tabling the Evans Report later today.

My colleague, the Honourable Kelvin Ng, commissioned the Evans Report in September 1997 when he was the Minister of Justice and Health and Social Services. I am indebted to my colleague for his dedication and foresight in recognizing the challenges facing the Northwest Territories in the areas of crime and corrections and for commissioning this report. I am also indebted to all MLAs whose questions and concerns both inside and outside this House have, in no small part, contributed to the debate concerning crime and corrections in the Northwest Territories.

The terms of reference for the Evans Report called for an examination of four sets of issues:

­ First, to provide a statistical description of crime and criminal justice in the Northwest Territories;

­ Second, to provide an independent review of corrections in the Northwest Territories;

­ Third, to examine community tolerance of crime and community willingness to take on more of the challenges in justice and corrections;

Finally, the report was to provide recommendations on how corrections might be organized and delivered, now and following the creation of two territories in 1999

Mr. Speaker, the Evans Report does not paint a rosy picture of crime and corrections in the Northwest Territories. In a realistic and straightforward fashion, the Evans Report chronicles the challenges of both the unacceptably high crime rate and how the corrections and community justice systems are coping with this situation. The Evans Report notes that the Northwest Territories has the highest rate of violent crime of all provinces and territories in Canada. This includes a rate of sexual assault which is eight times the national average. By a wide margin, the NWT has the highest incarceration rate in Canada. The Evans Report notes that if the NWT population grows in the way it is expected to we can expect substantial increases in the number of young offenders admitted in the next ten years, especially in Nunavut.

The Evans Report concluded that the NWT faces a serious overcrowding problem, this is more than just a matter of too many prison inmates. Rather, it is a major challenge with respect to risk management, security, programming, planning, capital shortfall and resourcing issues. The Evans Report concluded, and I quote: "The correctional institutions in the NWT are at a crisis in their ability to deliver correctional programming to inmates. This crisis is due in part to the current overcrowding, which has taken resources from programming to deal with the increased number of inmates." The Evans Report is both realistic and timely. I believe that we have to respond to the challenges presented by this report and action must be taken on the recommendations made. Mr Speaker, the time to take action is now. To this end, as Minister of Justice I have, submitted a comprehensive plan for community justice and corrections I am pleased to announce to this House that the Financial Management Board has approved funding and will seek the necessary supplementary funding from this House to breathe life into the plan. I will be seeking the support from this House and indeed all MLAs for the implementation of this plan.

The comprehensive plan outlines a two-part approach to addressing the challenges outlined in the Evans Report. The plan focuses on community justice and corrections. As I noted in my Minister's statement concerning the Rankin Justice Retreat, it is imperative that all communities be involved in the justice system to a much greater degree than they are now.

Funding for more on the land camps will be increased so that all regions can provide offenders with traditional programming based on community values.

Expansion of wilderness camps is necessary to alleviate overcrowding in our institutions. Community justice committees play a vital role in the criminal justice system. These committees are made up of concerned community members. The department will be revising the funding formula to allocate additional funding for the hiring of coordinators, and for additional crime prevention activities such as on the land programs. The additional funds will also allow committees to enhance the honoraria of the justice committee members.

I propose to overhaul community corrections. The NWT is the only jurisdiction in Canada without a dedicated probation service in its communities. This service is currently being provided by social workers. They have enough to do already without this extra burden. A stand-alone probation service will allow social workers to concentrate on the needs of victims. This is only right.

Once an effective community corrections option is in place, it is likely that more community sentences will be used for offenders who now go into custody and there will be more after-jail support to help avoid more criminal behaviour. In the east and west, a minimum of 35 positions are required to operate community corrections in both jurisdictions. While the positions slated for the east must, at this stage, be in recommendation form, it is my hope and strong recommendation that the new government of Nunavut will look closely at this option, and follow through with it.

Mr. Speaker, I have not forgotten about victims of crime in this context. While we hope that all the initiatives targeted at reducing the re-offending rate of offenders will result in fewer victims of crime, victims of crime require special attention that the Evans Report was not mandated to comment on. To this end, I have asked my officials to continue working with the Department of Health and Social Services to rationalize their respective roles in order to maximize the delivery of victims services.

The plan calls for improvements to the Yellowknife Correctional Centre which are, Mr. Speaker, long overdue. Severe overcrowding in aging arid substandard facilities and the lack of offender programs do not prepare offenders for release. Mr. Speaker, we have to face the facts that the Yellowknife Correctional Centre is, to put it mildly, a substandard institution which requires upgrading. While the present building has a capacity of 132 inmates, it is consistently housing 200 inmates. What was to be program space is used to bunk inmates in virtually the entire building.

An expert recently interviewed on CBC Radio stated that good programming in correctional institutions can eliminate up to 50 percent of the recidivism. That is the rate at which offenders re-offend and continue to commit crimes after being released from jail. The comprehensive plan calls for adding modules to the existing YCC building with an eye to having the new construction allow for delivery of specific programs to target recidivism. It is also important that program space be provided for higher security inmates. This would allow more offenders to be kept in the north.

The Evans Report identified a need for the department to develop programs for varying types of offenders in our facilities and develop programs for each individual inmate. Mr. Speaker, I will be seeking funding for the development of a Corrections Rehabilitations Programs and Information Database so that the individual programming needs of inmates can be determined. Once needs have been assessed, aboriginal healing and pretreatment, family violence, sex offender and other programs will assist in the rehabilitation of inmates instead of simply warehousing them, which is, in reality, what we do today.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, this bold and timely response to the Evans Report has as its goal an integrated corrections system that provides appropriate community and facility programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you. Ministers' statements. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to provide Members with an update on the Public Private Partnership or P3 projects that are underway to develop and construct health and social services facilities. For some time, a number of health and social services boards have been actively involved in the assessment and documentation of the health care needs of the people in their respective service areas in anticipation of major capital projects being initiated.

As Members know, on March 31, 1998, the Chairman of the Financial Management Board announced that 12 projects had been selected to pilot a new way of undertaking capital projects, the Public Private Partnership or P3 model. Five of those 12 projects are aimed at providing health and social services facilities. As Members are well aware, governments the world over are searching for new ways to live within their means while maintaining services for the public. Public Private Partnerships are a new way for governments to obtain and utilize infrastructure to meet the demands of their growing populations.

By partnering with the private sector, governments can better focus on the quality of their programs and services and put the responsibility for the infrastructure, whether it be a hospital or a student residence on the private partner.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has developed and is nurturing a strong commitment to the P3 process. Multi-sectoral committees and P3 implementation teams have been established to monitor all GNWT P3 projects. Workshops have been held in various communities to educate the potential stakeholders.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services' five P3 projects include the following;

•two hospitals, one each in Iqaluit and Inuvik;

• two regional health complexes, one in the Keewatin and one in the Kitikmeot; and finally

•one health centre in Arviat.

Functional programs that outline the health care needs of people in the service area and describe a facility that meets these needs, have been completed for all five of the health and social service pilot projects.

Each of the functional programs envisions a better future by including telehealth and telemedicine as part of the infrastructure requirement. Two of the projects, the Inuvik hospital and the Arviat health centre, have finalized their functional programs with the department and are ready for ministerial approval. The functional program for the Kitikmeot regional health complex has received conditional approval. The remaining two projects, the Baffin hospital and the Keewatin regional health complex have functional programs still under review.

In four of the projects, some technical aspects of project development work are in progress. These include topographical survey, geo-technical report, legal and environmental assessment and furniture, fixture and equipment planning. In Arviat, this work is complete. Once the functional programs are approved, the responsible P3 implementation team will invite bidders to submit proposals for the next stage of work.

For the Inuvik hospital project, the P3 project team are preparing to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to parties interested in forming a P3 partnership to design, construct, own, operate and finance the facility. Once I approve the functional program for the Arviat health centre, the P3 implementation team will issue a request for proposal (RRP) for the design, build, operate and finance of the project. For the remaining three Nunavut projects, a request for proposal for the preliminary design work will be issued upon approval of their functional programs.

In May 1997, a proposal was forwarded by the three Nunavut birthright development corporations and the three eastern health and social services boards for the development of the health and social services facilities in Nunavut. The initiative was pursued with the GNWT throughout the summer and fall of 1997 and a memorandum of agreement was signed between the boards, development corporations, myself as Minister of Health and Social Services and the Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, we believe that with the infrastructure provided by these five projects, both new territories will be better positioned to deliver much needed health and social services to their citizens. Leasing arrangements for all projects will have to be approved by the Government of the Northwest Territories' Financial Management Board. For the four Nunavut facilities, the critically important final approval for entering into long-term operating leases prior to March 31, 1999 is totally dependent on acceptance by the Nunavut Interim Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you. The time for Ministers' statements is over. Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 34(6) so that all Ministers' statements filed with the Clerk can be delivered today.

Thank you. The Member for Aivilik is seeking unanimous consent to waive rule 34(6). Do we have any nays?

Nay.

Sorry there is no unanimous consent. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House of the successful meeting of the Baffin Leaders Summit, held July 1998. I am very proud of the Baffin region organizations as they are able to work well with one another and with very little conflict. Hamlets and other groups and organizations in the Baffin including corporations and the Members of the Legislative Assembly, are also respectful of one another and must be commended for that.

However, we are seeing a trend where these representative bodies in Nunavut are covering the exact same items at every annual assembly. For example, all the bodies have one sort of social programs or another, perhaps this is due to a lack of communication amongst these bodies. I would strongly suggest that they follow certain channels to avoid overlapping on issues. Nunavut Tunngavik has delegated a committee to deal with certain issues. Issues dealing with social concerns and programs, healing, should be directed to that committee. Similarly the Baffin leaders should appoint a steering committee that would delegate certain issues of general concern.

Will we allow this situation to continue in the same way? Where can we make changes for improvement? If we can obtain some funding prior to April 1999, we would like to reassess the mandate of the Baffin leaders and see if they need to be assigned differently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make public what I told my wife at the beginning of my term of the 13th Assembly. To make sure she agrees, I talked to her over the phone last night and she agreed. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and the public I will not be seeking re-election in the up coming elections. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Member for Thebacha is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Miltenberger, you have unanimous consent to conclude your statement.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Roland.