Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs were first made aware of the plan to replace the NWT Women's Correctional Centre in Fort Smith during the 2003-2006 business plan review in September of 2002.
The Standing Committee on Social Programs does not dispute the fact the NWT Women's Correctional Centre needs replacing. What members do dispute is a cost-estimate of $10 million to replace a facility that, on average, has 10 inmates.
On the face of it, it appears to committee members that major capital projects are being parachuted into the capital allocation process, without any regard for design or utilization factors.
Members of the committee have noted a trend of poor planning and consultation in the building of capital projects for the Department of Justice. Even leaving aside the issue of cost overruns on the North Slave Correctional Centre and the Female Young Offenders' Facility in Inuvik which the department had little control over, the whole history of the Dene K'onia Young Offender Facility with its proposed land swaps and subsequent lack of community consultation on locating such a facility, coupled with the lack of planning on the Territorial Women's Correctional Centre have raised serious concerns for committee members.
The deputy minister of the department commented that in reviewing their material in preparation for the meeting with the standing committee the department noted the figure of $10 million for replacing the Women's Correctional Centre "seemed a large number for a small number of people".
The department has promised to revisit its estimates on the cost of replacing the Territorial Women's Correctional Centre. In advance of that promise, committee members were extremely concerned that leaving the $10 million figure in the capital allocation plan would result in the number becoming "institutionalized", and thus hard to change in subsequent capital allocation plans.
The Standing Committee on Social Programs passed this concern onto the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. In a letter to the Minister of Finance, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight has asked that the replacement of the Territorial Women's Correctional Centre be removed from the capital allocation plan until such time as it can be justified to the standing committees.
The response from the Minister of Finance indicates the Minister of Justice has agreed the functionality and cost estimates for the project need to be reviewed.
The response also indicates the Territorial Women's Correctional Centre will be a 20-bed facility housing both minimum and maximum security inmates. This is the first time committee members were made aware the department had plans to house maximum-security inmates in this facility. In fact, during the in-camera review of the main estimates, committee members had asked whether the replacement would mean higher security and had been told it was just a replacement of the existing minimum security facility.
Maximum security inmates also imply the department would be seeking opportunities to enter into the return of service agreements with Corrections Canada for the repatriation of NWT residents in the federal system. This was also not mentioned to committee. This further compounds the committee's sense of frustration and fosters the belief the department is adjusting programming to justify capital spending.
Community Justice Committees
Committee members remain committed to the concept of community justice committees and are generally pleased with the department's efforts to expand this program to all communities in the Northwest Territories.
Alternative sentencing arrangements, such as sentencing circles, allow young offenders and some adults to avoid contact with the criminal justice system and provide them with a genuine opportunity to change their behaviour.
Members are also aware that some community justice committees have gone beyond the mandate envisioned by the Department of Justice and are actually working with inmates from their communities to assist in their eventual reintegration to the community.
The standing committee has commented previously on the need for a program of, for lack of a better word, "aftercare" for persons released to the community after serving time in a correctional facility.
It is recommended that the department seriously consider providing funding to those community justice committees that are willing to engage their community in assisting in the reintegration of offenders into the daily lives of their community.
Treatment Versus Incarceration
One thing the 14th Assembly can take dubious credit for is the replacement of the majority of correctional facilities in the Northwest Territories. It is unfortunate that a significant portion of funding available for capital infrastructure during the life of this Assembly had to be expended on replacing aging correctional facilities.
The reason replacing the Yellowknife Correctional Centre was so expensive was the need to provide adequate programming space to run the programs to help inmates reintegrate into society upon their release. While providing the necessary programming space is important for rehabilitating offenders, it is equally important to provide the programming and services that keep people from coming into contact with the criminal justice system in the first place.
The Department of Justice is tasked with keeping residents of the Northwest Territories safe and in providing the programs and services that will help offenders reintegrate into the community. The committee believes the department now has the infrastructure to accomplish their mandate. The other government departments' roles are to ensure residents have a solid education, have access to adequate housing and access to programs and services that encourage a healthy lifestyle.
We will have spent roughly $76 million in replacing the correctional and young offender facilities in the Northwest Territories by the end of 2003-2004. It is time now to concentrate on the programs and services that encourage residents to live a healthy lifestyle, to deal with their addictions and mental health issues to ensure we will not have to build more correctional facilities to house residents who have come into conflict with the law.
Family Violence Protection Legislation
The Standing Committee on Social Programs is convinced there is value in introducing and passing legislation on family violence protection that would allow the RCMP to remove perpetrators of violence from the family home.
The current situation almost always results in the victim of violence being forced to flee the family home in search of protection.
The Standing Committee on Social Programs has expressed its frustration in the past on the lack of movement by the department in addressing the need for family violence protection legislation in the Northwest Territories. In the absence of any clear commitment on the part of the department and government and in response to clear direction by various non-governmental organizations, including the government's own Social Agenda, the Standing Committee on Social Programs offers the following recommendation: The Standing Committee on Social Programs recommends the government introduce family violence protection legislation at the earliest opportunity for consideration by this Legislature prior to the dissolution of the 14th Assembly.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Social Programs on the Department of Justice.