Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met with the Minister and his officials on Thursday, February 19, 2004 to review the draft main estimates for the Department of Justice.
Members of the standing committee noted $79,973,000 in operations and maintenance, $645,000 for infrastructure acquisition and estimated revenues of $10,416,000 for the department in 2004-2005.
The standing committee made note of the following issues and concerns.
Capital Planning Process
The committee was very concerned with how the capital planning process works. It was noted that in last year's infrastructure acquisition plan over $10.0 million starting in 2004/2005 was identified for the construction of a new Territorial Women's Correctional Centre in Fort Smith. In this year's plan that project no longer appears.
Committee questions how a $10 million project could have been important enough to be included last year and yet not survive the current year's process.
Committee has taken this concern to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight for a possible recommendation on the seeming inequities in the capital planning process.
RCMP In Small Communities
There are communities in the Northwest Territories that are too small to generate a sufficient caseload to justify a permanent RCMP detachment. With recent court cases dictating that single-member detachments are not legal under the Canada Labour Code, it is unlikely the RCMP will be able to have a presence in every community in the Northwest Territories for the foreseeable future.
Regardless of the factors, the committee believes there is a strong case to be made to change the way policing is delivered in communities without a regular police presence.
Using their own experiences committee Members illustrated that even within communities of a similar size, there is a need for different levels of policing services.
The community of Sachs Harbour is a small traditional community that would like to have a permanent detachment once again. Failing that, the community would like to see RCMP patrols on a more regular basis with a possible emphasis on working with the children in school to deal with a recent increase in vandalism.
The community of Colville Lake has a different need. Resource exploration activity in the area has meant that many residents, of what was a traditional community, are now participating in the wage economy. Excess money has meant an increase in alcohol and drug use and related problems especially around paydays. Residents of the community of Colville Lake would like to see the RCMP in their community during the payday weekends to provide increased security.
Committee hopes some of the resources provided by this budget will go toward improved policing in communities without full-time detachments.
Increase In Number Of Police Officers In The Northwest Territories
The department and Minister of Justice have embarked on an ambitious plan to increase the number of police officers serving the general public. The committee supports this plan.
This year's main estimates contain an additional $2,461,000 in forced growth spending for police services. This funding will provide nearly $1 million in increased funding for operations and maintenance, with the remainder used to hire 12 new officers for the NWT. Six officers will form the core of a relief unit to make sure that detachments in the communities are fully staffed when permanently posted officers go on holidays. The other six officers are to be posted in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Rae and Hay River.
Working from a resource requirement report prepared by the RCMP last year the department plans to provide funding to hire an additional 15 officers over the next two budget planning cycles.
The Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs will not be offering any comment on where these new officers should be posted as it is understood
that the decisions related to the number of police officers in any community is the sole purview of the RCMP.
The committee looks forward to reviewing the Minister's plans for increasing the number of RCMP officers in the NWT during the next business plan review in September.
RCMP Positions Paid For Solely By The Federal Government
Several positions for which the federal government is responsible, related to diamonds, drugs and organized crime, are not staffed at this time. Members are concerned that as the number of diamond mines increases, and the pipeline gets closer to fruition, a rise in organized crime and drug use will occur.
The committee supports the superintendent of "G" Division and the Minister in lobbying to ensure that these positions are filled well in advance of any increase in resource development activity.
Members also offer their support for having further positions in the RCMP related to diamonds and protection of Canada's arctic sovereignty moved from the south to the Northwest Territories.
Planning For The Pipeline
Committee is concerned with a perceived lack of coordination and planning related to the proposed pipeline down the Mackenzie.
There is a need to work together now at the community and territorial levels with the RCMP and the courts to identify what the anticipated problems will be and how the justice system will deal with them. Waiting until such time as the construction of the pipeline is upon us is unacceptable.
In the next business planning cycle, committee will be looking for evidence of a plan addressing the justice needs of residents living along the pipeline corridor.
Continuity Of Care For Inmates / Justice And Health And Social Services
It was noted by several members of the committee that there seemed to be a lack of sufficient linkage between the programming offered by the Department of Justice while a person is incarcerated and those services offered by the Department of Health and Social Services and their partners upon the release of that person. Members believe that a community-based case-management approach must be taken to ensure an inmate's success upon release.
Committee members understand that totally cooperative efforts are somewhat limited by privacy legislation, but would point out that at the very least the Department of Justice should be identifying treatment opportunities in an inmate's home community and offering to assist the inmate in accessing these services upon release. Hopefully, a released offender would take advantage of the programs and services available to him or her.
The Department of Health and Social Services has the responsibility of ensuring that programs and services are available in all communities in the Northwest Territories. If we release an inmate into a community, without adequate supports, we are setting that person up for failure. Chances are without those supports, a person will gravitate to the situations and behaviour that caused them to offend in the first place and end up back in jail.
The committee believes there is a need for a multi-pronged approach that includes a role for the community justice committees, the local community governments, aboriginal governments, chiefs and the mayors in ensuring the successful reintegration of an offender into his or her home community.
Any help we as a government can give to residents that limit their contact with the criminal justice system is worthwhile.
The committee will be following up on this issue with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Services.
River Ridge Facility In Fort Smith
The committee would like to commend and support the department in its decision to convert the River Ridge Young Offenders Facility into an adult male facility to deal with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders amongst inmates.
It is important inmates who may not have the cognitive skills to recognize the consequences of their actions are removed from situations where they may be subject to violence from other inmates or disciplinary action for acts unacceptable to the correctional institution.
Because of the decrease in the number of young offenders sentenced to custodial sentences, this program also has the benefit of utilizing unused facilities and staff to deliver an effective program that relieves strain on other adult institutions.
The committee looks forward to reviewing the effectiveness of this exciting new correctional program during the life of this Assembly.
Young Offenders' Facilities
With the coming into force of the federal Youth Justice Act in April of 2003 the way in which young persons under the age of 18 are treated by the criminal justice system has changed significantly.
The new Youth Justice Act focuses on a community-based approach rather than the custodial/incarceration approach under the old Young Offenders Act. This has meant an increase in the use of warnings, alternative sentencing options and probation in the young person's home community. The consequence of this is that the majority of young offender facilities have been operating at well below capacity.
The Arctic Tern young women's facility in Inuvik is a case in point. Prior to the coming into force of the new legislation that facility was operating at or near capacity, caring for between eight to 11 female young offenders at any one time with a staff complement of 20 employees. Since April of 2003 the Arctic Tern facility has averaged two offenders at any one time with the same staffing complement.
Committee notes there would be lower costs involved for female young offenders if they were sent to out-of-territory institutions. However, this has to be balanced with the
human costs of displacing offenders so far from their families and communities.
It was noted by the committee that the federal government is subsidizing 60 percent, or approximately $1.2 million of the $2 million total operations cost of the Arctic Tern facility. Hence, the cost to the Government of the Northwest Territories to house two young offenders is not as high as it would appear on first blush.
The standing committee believes that it is important to review how sentencing under this new legislation plays out over the next while before any decisions are made in rationalizing young offender facilities in the Northwest Territories.
Members of the committee will be following up on this issue in the next and in subsequent business planning cycles.