Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My comments are somewhat similar to those of my colleague. I feel that this motion is a necessity. As we’ve heard, Bill C-10 includes new mandatory minimum sentences and it includes tougher sentences, particularly for young offenders, among other changes there. It is expected that it will put more people in jail for longer and it will increase the cost of administering justice at both the provincial, territorial and federal levels. I feel that it will cripple an already overloaded court system. It will increase the number of people that are sent to jail. It will make our prisons more dangerous for both inmates and guards, and it will increase the length of sentences.
I am particularly disturbed with the minimum sentence component because it removes any flexibility on the part of the judge to treat the cause of the crime. It forces them to treat the crime only. As Mr. Bromley stated, I think, earlier, there is no ability to get to the root causes of the crime. That is what we need for our people. There is no opportunity to divert people at the court process from going to jail. A minimum sentence means they have to go to jail. There is no opportunity for us to deal with a person’s addiction. If the crime has been perpetrated because of an addiction, there is no opportunity to deal with that.
There is little evidence to support that this approach will show that it has shown to be successful and that it will reduce crime. There is not an opportunity to allow first offenders or people that have committed minor offences to attempt to be rehabilitated or attempt rehabilitation. We are going to have increased pressure on our court resources because there will be more trials in the NWT. We already have fairly stressed court resources, I think. Our government will have to redirect our inadequate resources which are currently going to essential programs and services for all Northerners,
to building and expanding correctional institutions to deal with the higher incidences of people that are having to go to jail.
We have many federal prisoners who are kept in northern institutions so they can be closer to their family and their culture. So that is going to put an even greater strain on our correctional facilities. Our NWT correctional facilities are currently crowded. It means, because we are already crowded, more people means we have to build more facilities. We absolutely cannot afford to build more facilities than what we are already currently considering.
For me, I am really concerned because, at this point, we absolutely have no idea what the cost of this bill is going to add to the cost of this government. It is a large concern. A number of people have spoken out about this. I would like to quote from our NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston who, in the Senate a little while ago, stated: “Institutions that are not focused on substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation and education in a safe environment will increasingly resemble southern prisons where criminals are warehoused in overcrowded conditions, and where violence and danger are a way of life for both inmates and staff.”
Aboriginal people are already overrepresented in correctional facilities, both throughout Canada and here in the North. In Canada, Aboriginal people represent 4 percent of our population, but they represent 20 percent of our correctional facility population. In the NWT, again I would like to quote from Mr. Sibbeston: “It is well known that Aboriginal people are badly overrepresented in our prisons in the Northwest Territories. In 2008 and 2009 they represented 88 percent of the jail population. Mandatory minimums and the restrictions on the use of conditional sentences will only make this worse.”
I would like to also quote from the Ottawa Citizen in mid-November: “I can definitely say that the root of the crime in this city is not evil people we need to lock up, it is people with addictions, and history of abuse and mental problems who need treatment. These issues are not going to be cured with incarceration.” This was said by Stephen Mansell, the president of the Nunavut chapter of the Canadian Bar Association. He is a member, as well, of the Iqaluit City Council and he was talking about his own home community, Iqaluit.
I agree with the Government of Canada that we need to get tough on crime for serious crimes and for serious offenders and repeat offenders. Particularly, in my mind, drug offences and sex-based crimes are particularly important that we come down hard on people who commit these crimes, but I don’t feel that we should be bearing down hard on first offenders and people who are doing things like a 16-year-old who gets caught with a marijuana joint.
I would like to quote once more from the Winnipeg Free Press in early December: “The federal government is not only ignoring the Supreme Court of Canada in its own research but is ignoring what all Canadians know: that poverty, lack of housing and clean water, and education and training, and the fallout from residential schools all contribute to crime within Aboriginal communities. Instead of putting money into improving living conditions and rehabilitation programs, the government appears content to make jails the residential schools of the 21
st
Century.”
The whereases in this motion say it all for me. The operative clauses are a plea to the Government of Canada, in my mind, to recognize the NWT’s unique situation, to recognize the implications that Bill C-10 will have on the NWT, and it is a plea to the Government of Canada to help us with the implementation of Bill C-10. It is a fact. It is going to be coming, but we need assistance.
I urge all Members to support this motion. We need the assistance of the Government of Canada to help us mitigate these costs. I urge the Government of the Northwest Territories to listen to the last clause and put comprehensive programs in place to deal with root causes of crime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.