Page 2-26, information item, lease commitments, infrastructure.

Go back to page 2-11, Executive offices, program summary, operations expense, total operations expense, $14.733 million.

Does the committee agree that the review of the Department of Executive is concluded?

Does the committee agree that the Executive offices are concluded?

I would like to thank the Minister and witnesses for appearing.

As agreed previously by committee, we will go on to the Department of Justice. Does the committee agree?

Does the Minister have any opening comments? Mr. Allen.

Minister's Opening Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today, I am pleased to present the Department of Justice's main estimates for 2003-2004. The Department of Justice's proposed main estimates for 2003-2004 is $75.256 million. This is an increase of seven and a half percent or $5.672 million from the 2002-2003 main estimates.

The capital acquisition plan budget is $14.092 million. This is a reduction of 33 percent or $4.754 million from the 2002-2003 fiscal year. The estimated revenues for the department are $9.803 million which is an increase of $3,000.

I will now highlight the major changes in the main estimates from last year's budget. In 2003-2004, an additional $200,000 will be made available so that 10 more communities can hire a part-time justice coordinator. This is the second year of a three-year program that will provide all communities with the opportunity to receive this funding. These additional funds for communities are new spending.

The following changes to the department's budget are all as a result of forced growth.

To address a concern brought forward by the Canada Labour Code, regarding the safety of RCMP officers in single-officer detachments, three new RCMP positions will be funded. These positions will be added to the detachments in Wha Ti, Holman and Paulatuk.

The Department of Justice is spending an additional $293,000 to improve services to the public. Three positions in the maintenance enforcement office will now receive funding to meet the current workload of the office. This will help ensure that those families who are owed financial support receive it.

Legal registries will also receive a new position to meet an existing increased demand for service. However, the revenue from increased registrations will offset the cost of the position.

To improve security in the courts, four new deputy sheriff positions will be funded. The deputy sheriff will now be based in the courts in Inuvik and Hay River. Two additional deputy sheriffs will be assigned to the Yellowknife Courthouse.

On April 1, 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act comes into effect and replaces the federal Young Offenders' Act. This new legislation has resulted in forced growth of $361,000. Part of this increase can be attributed to a new sentencing approach under the act. Youth convicted of Criminal Code offences will now be required to serve the last third of their sentence under supervision in the community. The department will fund three new probation officers based in Fort Providence, Norman Wells and Inuvik. These positions will add to existing probation officers located in Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Rae-Edzo, Fort Good Hope, Deline, Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson.

I will now update committee members on issues raised during the review of the business plan.

On the issue of policing, the department received a resourcing request from the RCMP at the beginning of February. We are reviewing the proposal and will meet with the RCMP to discuss resourcing and funding levels for policing services in the NWT. We anticipate these discussions will be completed with in the next two months and plan to come forward with an additional request for additional resources by June.

As I recently said, in the Legislative Assembly, addressing family violence is a priority for the department. In response to recommendation six of the Social Agenda, the department is working with the local office of Justice Canada and the CMP to find ways to collect data on family violence in the NWT.

As a Member of the Coalition Against Family Violence, the department is supporting the development of an action plan on family violence. This plan will improve the way that governments, communities, departments, agencies and service providers work together to reduce family violence and serve the victims of family violence. This reflects recommendation two of the Social Agenda.

The department is also looking at other ways to reduce family violence. We have completed the first phase of our research into family violence legislation and plan to begin public consultations as soon as possible. The department plans to use the results of these consultations as the basis for legislation that we plan to introduce during the June session.

Meeting the legal aid needs of northern residents remains a challenge. Funding legal aid is a problem across Canada. All provinces and territories agreed to a national review of legal aid and we expect the results of the review this spring. In October, I met with the federal Minister of Justice and raised with him the unique issues and costs facing legal aid in the North. The recent federal budget did include additional funding for Legal aid. How much money the GNWT will receive should be known within the next three months.

I mentioned earlier the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act. The existing Northwest Territories Young Offenders Act was based on the federal Young Offenders Act that will be repealed April 1, 2003. The department is developing territorial youth justice legislation based on the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act. New territorial legislation is required to ensure that a consistent approach is taken to young offenders for both territorial or Criminal Code offences.

The upcoming fiscal year will be the first year of full operations at the North Slave Young Offender Facility. We will also see the opening of the adult facility in the spring of 2004. The majority of our capital budget for the upcoming 2003-2004 fiscal year will support construction and completion of the adult facility.

These new facilities will make our communities safer by providing the level of security and programming necessary to assist offenders with their rehabilitation and reintegration back to their home communities.

Mr. Chairman, the activities described in the main estimates will help fulfill the roles identified in our business plan and in Towards a Better Tomorrow. These activities will help the department fulfill its mandate of administering justice and maintaining safe and secure communities. I look forward to reviewing the main estimates with members of the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister Allen. I will call on the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their comments. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met with the Minister and his officials on January 16, 2003, to discuss the draft main estimates for the Department of Justice.

Since reviewing the business plan in September of 2002, the standing committee notes a reduction of $218,000 for the department's amortization of infrastructure and a $150,000 increase to develop and implement the new intensive rehabilitation custody and support program required under the new federal Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Additional Policing for the Northwest Territories

Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs were pleased to see this budget deals with the issue of single-member detachments. There is an additional $560,000 to pay for equipment and one additional RCMP officer each in Wha Ti, Holman and Paulatuk.

However, committee would be remiss if we did not point out that the initiative to eliminate single-member detachments was more or less forced on the GNWT because of a recent Labour Board of Canada decision and was not the result of any forward planning on the part of the Department of Justice.

Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs have been calling for an increase in the number of RCMP officers for the last three years. The RCMP in larger communities such as Yellowknife and Inuvik are taxed to the limit, given the rise in population and an increase in criminal activity associated with improved economic opportunities. Police in these communities also spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with public intoxication.

Police in other communities are also impacted by inappropriate behaviour associated with the increase in disposable income. Other issues such as the RCMP having to dedicate already stretched resources to highway patrol, policing in Wood Buffalo National Park, court appearances, shift scheduling, maternity leave and training requirements are also impacting on the ability of the RCMP to have a strong presence in NWT communities.

The Standing Committee on Social Programs was first made aware of the RCMP preparing a business case justifying an increase in the number of RCMP officers during the review of the 2001-2002 main estimates. Members are disappointed that the Department of Justice has been unable to arrive at consensus with the RCMP on increased policing requirements for the Northwest Territories in the past two years.

The committee pointed out in last year's main estimates review that the government of Nunavut provided funding for an additional 14 RCMP officers in their 2002-2003 budget. It was hoped that the Minister of Justice would show the necessary political will to prepare a submission to the Financial Management Board advocating an increase in the number of police in NWT communities.

There appears to have been no tangible progress made on increasing the number of RCMP officers in the NWT since the committee discussed the issue with the Minister and his officials during the business plan review in September of 2002.

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Policy for Yellowknife

As previously mentioned, Yellowknife in particular, has a serious problem with public intoxication. The standing committee was told over the past year just over 5,000 people were lodged in cells for public intoxication. Admittedly, many of these people were repeat offenders.

Committee was interested to hear the Yellowknife RCMP is developing a plan to deal with the issue of public intoxication in Yellowknife, with a particular emphasis on repeat offenders.

The committee supports such an effort and hope that an inter-disciplinary approach can be developed that is inclusive of all agencies involved in the treatment of addictions and of homelessness.

Legal aid Funding

The federal Department of Justice is due to release a report on the state of legal aid in Canada this spring.

Like the department, the Standing Committee on Social Programs hopes the federal government will accept its responsibility to adequately fund legal aid in Canada. In addition, the committee hopes the federal government will recognize the increased costs of delivering justice in the Northwest Territories and not just fund on a per capita basis.

The standing committee looks forward to discussing the federal Report on the State of Legal aid in Canada with the territorial Minister of Justice when it is released. Mr. Chairman, I would like to turn over the reading of the report to the Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Braden.

Capital Allocation Concerns And The NWT Women's Correctional Centre

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.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Does the Minister wish to bring in any witnesses? Mr. Allen.

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I would be pleased to do so.

Does the committee agree?

Sergeant-at-Arms, would you escort the witnesses in, please?

Mr. Allen, for the record, please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, to my far right is the assistant deputy minister of Justice, Shirley Kemeys-Jones; to my immediate left is director of corporate services, Kim Schofield; and, to my immediate right is Donald Cooper, deputy minister. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Allen. General comments. Ms. Lee.

General Comments