Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What sort of process is being used to develop the programs to reintegrate offenders back into the community other than just the community-based projects? Is that on-the-land programs? Is that really the extent of the programming or are there programs that go beyond that?

For instance, I know when an offender is incarcerated, they can access programs like anger management, but it may be useful to access that kind of programming back in a community. Is there any effort to try and see that programming made more broadly available throughout the North?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If a person who is on parole or has been put back into the community for aftercare, we do have probation services that provide some formal guidance. When they are officially released, it is strictly a volunteer process, to which we have no control over how that individual conducts himself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It sounds like there is no real formal integration program. Are there any connections between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Services to perhaps look at whether or not it might be worthwhile instituting some form of counselling services for inmates who have been recently released, to assist them with the transition back into life in a community?

Mr. Chairman, no, I do not believe there are any formal links between the two departments, but from my own personal experience, we have tried to work with the individuals where they reintegrate into the communities and look at some form of work in terms of job satisfaction, then they start feeling like part of the community. That is certainly one of the encouraging areas we have worked with individuals on in the past.

To the specific question, no, there is no formal link between Health and Social Services and ourselves. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Not a question, but a comment. I hope that the Minister of the department will perhaps take an opportunity to discuss with Health and Social Services whether or not there might not be a collaborative approach to assisting people get back into the community and make sure that they are assisted to make productive choices and try and reduce the numbers that return to incarceration as a result of not having that support. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, certainly that is one of the key areas we want to look at in the very near future, to assist those who are returning to the communities to reintegrate and not to re-offend. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the Minister if he can give me some information regarding the Wilderness Camp Program and, more specifically, the status of what is happening to the camp at Axe Point near Fort Providence?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I may request that the deputy minister respond to the question.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, this is an issue that has been ongoing, the Axe Point Camp being able to operate throughout the year. It is something we have raised with the Department of Justice on a number of occasions. It is regarding the difficulty we have bringing the clients in from the different facilities.

Although it can house up to eight people, we usually only have two people in the wilderness camp. When I go into the institutions, I see there are a lot of people who are approaching me and talking to me about wanting to be housed in the wilderness camp or go through the program. Yet there seems to be -- I am not sure what kind of complication there is but there seems to be a complication throughout the system that does not allow that to happen.

The response we get to our enquiries is that there is really no one who wants to go to the camps. We have to have people who want to go to camps in order to send them there, is the answer I am getting. I do not know if I agree with that because I do not seem to get that sense when I go into the correctional facility. There seems to be a lot of people who want to go into the camps. This camp is close to the Hay River correctional facility and we cannot seem to get the numbers in the camp that we require. Can the Minister tell us if he has an opinion on that?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My understanding of the procedures is that the individuals make an application if they want to go to the bush camp, and it is voluntary. In terms of whether it is policy, then I would ask the deputy minister to speak to that. Thank you.