Agreed. Thank you. Bill 62 is now ready for third reading. I would like to thank Minister Ramsay and his officials for their attendance here and I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.

If committee is agreed, we will proceed with Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Victims of Crime Act, and I will ask Minister Ramsay if he could please provide his opening comments on Bill 63. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to be here today to talk to you about Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Victims of Crime Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its review of the bill.

In 2013 the federal government gave assent to Bill C-37, Increasing Offenders’ Accountability for Victims Act. As a result of those amendments, offenders are now allowed to use fine option programs to work off surcharges. In response, Bill 63 would amend the territorial Victims of Crime Act to allow offenders to resolve their surcharges by means of the NWT Fine Option Program.

These changes are especially important given that Bill C-37 doubled the existing federal surcharge and removed judicial discretion in applying the surcharge for each federal conviction an offender receives. The cumulative total owed could end up being quite significant in some cases, and many offenders have very little money. Without the ability to utilize the Fine Option Program, cumulative surcharges could be a burden.

Bill 63 will also allow the territorial victim surcharge amount or the calculation method for each offence to be set out in the Victims of Crime Regulations, allowing amounts to be updated as necessary in the future, after appropriate consultation prior to implementing any increase or decrease. This bill will also amend the Fine Option Act to permit an offender to use the Fine Option Program to discharge all or any part of the victim of crime surcharge.

I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding the bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ramsay. We will now call on the chair of Standing Committee of Social Programs that reviewed the bill to offer the committee’s remarks. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Victims of Crime Act, on September 15, 2015. A clause-by-clause review was conducted the same day. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill.

Bill 63 amends the Victims of Crime Act with respect to surcharges imposed and paid into the Victims Assistance Fund. The bill allows the surcharge amounts to be set by regulation and allows an offender to complete a work option program under the Fine Option Act as an alternative to incarceration for failure to pay a surcharge. The bill makes consequential amendments to the Fine Option Act.

Upon the committee’s review, a motion was carried to report Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Victims of Crime Act, to the Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee’s opening comments on Bill 63. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. At this time I would like to ask Minister Ramsay if he has witnesses he’d like to bring into the Chamber.

I do, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ramsay. Does committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you. I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.

Once again, for the record, Minister Ramsay, if you could please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right is Ms. Shirley Kemeys-Jones, assistant deputy minister, Office of the Solicitor General; and to my left, Cherie Jarock

, legislative counsel, Department of Justice.

Thank you, Minister Ramsay. Are there any general comments on Bill 63? General comments. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d like to welcome the Minister and the department here today as we review this act. I guess, first and foremost, after being well schooled on the principles of this act and the mechanism behind this act, I had a concern with the title of this act, called the Victims of Crime Act. When you look at where this money is going and how this money is collected, victims of any crime do not receive a penny of this, this actually goes to rehabilitation of inmates and so I really strongly encourage the department to consider renaming this act to clearly reflect where this money is going to give nomenclature to these acts. It’s a bit of a misnomer that we’re misleading the public that victims are receiving this money. So that’s more of an observation as we move forward, Madam Chair.

What we have here are changes to the regulations that will follow with respect to increased surcharges, so if the department could give us a better idea

and scope as to when this act, if it does pass, when will these changes take effect? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam. I’ll go to Ms. Kemeys-Jones for a more detailed response to the second part of Mr. Dolynny’s question, but I just wanted to say that we’re not out to try to fool the public or anything with the bill. The question about where the surcharges collected go, I can list off a few things: training to sensitize and inform community resource workers about the needs and circumstances of victims of crime; direct services that assist victims through crisis response personal support; follow-up assistance information and referrals; public awareness on the rights and responsibilities of victims; available services; the criminal justice system and its procedures or any other issues related to victims of crime; research into the needs and concerns of victims; distribution of victims’ service information; and promotion of services for victims so that the surcharges that we do collect go to help victims of crime. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ramsay. Ms. Kemeys-Jones.

Thank you, Ms. Kemeys-Jones. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do respect the Minister’s response and I do not want to split hairs with the Minister or department. I just think this nomenclature that we used to define this act is a bit misleading. A true victim here is a person who has had an act against them of violence or anything against them, and in a lot of cases I don’t think the victims themselves are recipients to the fines the way it’s set up by the courts. So I just want to make that perfectly clear.

There’s going to be a significant amount of impact and cost as these fines become higher and people or inmates are being released or being charged will be looking at the Fine Option Program to work off these debts because the fines are going to be substantially higher than the past. Which means that we’re going to have a lot more manpower in play to manage and mitigate a lot of this client option program.

What does the department expect to see in terms of costs associated with managing the influx that we may see with the Fine Option Act or a program in full effect with this act? Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the response. We heard the term monitor, which I think is of importance to Members of this side of the House. So I guess the question we should be asking is in this monitoring there must be some measurable, there must be information that would be subscribed to in terms of finding efficiencies within this Fine Option Program.

Will the department and will the Minister commit on sharing that information as this act comes on board and be able to share the success or the failures of this program as it relates to this act being passed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we can do that and we will do that. Thank you.

Thank you.