Thank you, Ms. Bolstad. Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. How many clients have utilized this cost allowance underneath this reintegration? Last year, for example, we can see we are serving a demand, a little bit more detail on the success of this allowance. For example, how many clients are utilizing this cost allowance for reintegration back into their communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister Sebert.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. This is to support offender reintegration in the new facility that we are planning. Perhaps Mr. Goldney could elaborate a bit on that answer. I understand this money was transferred from another program that was underutilized. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Just in the interest of time, if you know one of the other members will answer, just give direction so we can try to speed it up a bit. We will go to Mr. Goldney.

Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am glad that allowance is budgeted for that purpose to provide this reintegration service. I am just curious on the historical justification on the success of it. If you see a need for it, I am glad it is there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to follow up on questions from Mr. McNeely here. Can the Minister provide more information about the planned therapeutic community of the South Slave corrections? What is going on right now with that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Sebert.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. As Members will know, we are advancing this project of transition of the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre to a facility that operates under a therapeutic community model. This is based largely on the Guthrie House program in Nanaimo, British Columbia, that some of us had the opportunity of examining by going down there. It was thought that the Hay River facility would be ideal for this, and I understand that staff has bought into the idea.

When we were down at Guthrie House, it seemed that this was a path that could lead to success. Now, what we don't want, of course, is have people who are recidivists constantly coming back to the facilities, whether here, Fort Smith, or Hay River. So we did look at their program. We have made some alterations to fit with our northern circumstances. We also will need to make some improvements to the facility. As you may know, it is a minimum-security facility, and I believe we have to move it up to medium-security to be appropriate for this type of program. One of the things that is being done is that there will enhanced security fencing, and that is a fairly major item. In addition, I understand that there are some lesser costs that will be involved inside the building. There are a lot of key steps that have to be taken before we make this total transition. We have to develop contingency planning for off-grounds activities and programs of orientation.

As I understand it, there are essentially four stages. There is an orientation that is peer-led, primary treatment with re-entry transition counsellors, case management and outreach, and aftercare. It is a four-step process, and we are working, of course, on this.

There will have to be additional staff training, but as I said earlier, my understanding is that the staff has bought into this idea. We are optimistic. Under the communication plan, all of the staff have been notified of the transition, and they will be receiving continuing updates. I believe, also, that the public will be supportive.

This seems to be an excellent idea. Any of us who had the opportunity of going to Nanaimo, I think, were impressed with what they are doing there. There is no guarantee of 100 percent success, but it did seem to us that there was a better chance of success with this type of therapeutic community.

Those are the steps that we are taking. Some of it is in dealing with the staff, keeping them informed and training them, and also the enhancements or changes that we have to make to the physical site. Thank you, Mr. Chair

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have been to Guthrie House, saw it firsthand, and saw how it worked really well. It is a positive model. I guess my question is: you talked about your facilities, you know, staff buy-in, but what is your schedule for planning? What have you done to set up planning for the training so that, when it is actually running, the staff are ready to go? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Sebert.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The corrections service, I understand, has created a working document for the steering committee, outlining next steps and a work plan that was developed to assist in tracking and task management.

There are a lot of things that need to be done. The work includes operational model development, inmate programming, structural upgrades, staff training, communication plan, a transition and implementation stage, and community re-entry plan. Work has gone, in my view, pretty quickly on this. It was only a few years ago that we started even contemplating this, and as I say, some of us, including the Member who has asked the question, have had the opportunity of visiting Guthrie House. I am satisfied with the progress that we have made, and I am looking forward to this institution being opened. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess my question is: what is the training? Have we started the training of staff? Have we got programs? Staff have to be getting trained so that they can actually be operational when all of that work is done, and we are not waiting. Can the Minister elaborate and focus on just the training? Has there been training done, and what are the next steps moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Goldney.

Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is great to hear because we are moving forward. My question previously, the year before, I asked about engagement with the community because a part of the success of Guthrie House is the involvement of the community. What has the department done to get the community's buy-in, and are we able to do similar stuff that Guthrie House is able to do, or do we have to look at moving them once they complete the program? To get into housing, they maybe have to come to Yellowknife. Has the department looked at that and moved forward on that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Goldney.