Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, for one, am glad to see the old act being changed, taking into account the number of problems and concerns and phone calls and interactions we have within our smaller communities particularly, in the areas of social development and victims of abuse. As my colleague from the Deh Cho had mentioned earlier, trauma experienced during the residential school, that environment really adds to program delivery, as mentioned in the summary of the act or the bill, with the statement: the new act focuses less on punishment and more on rehabilitation and community reintegration of the offender. What is missing there is reconciliation during incarceration, and I feel comfortable by the opening comment by the Minister that there will be a wide range of improvements to the current framework of the corrections system in the area of programming and counselling.

One of the many things that I continue to support is on-the-land programming, as the department has had programs in the past, and, from what I have heard, there were a number of success stories on the offenders coming out of these on-the-land camps, connecting themselves back to their culture under that environment and moving ahead. At the appropriate time there, I would like to talk a little bit more about one of the experiences on the establishment of the Gladue Report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Again, I would like to thank the Member for his comments, and I don't want to repeat what I have already said again. We are proud of this piece of legislation. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Any further questions from committee? Seeing none, does committee agree that there are no further comments?

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Committee, we can proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill. Does committee agree?

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, committee. We will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. There are 60 clauses in the bill. We will consider clauses in groups. Please turn to page 10 of the bill.

---Clauses 1 through 39 inclusive approved

Mr. Thompson.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. A motion has been made. The motion is being distributed. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you. The Director of Corrections wanted to retain the ultimate authority over discipline in the correctional facility, which we understand. What we have here is an independent adjudication process. It will receive oversight by the Director of Corrections, but the key phrase here is that the director "may confirm, quash, or reduce" the periods of separate confinement, but he cannot or she cannot increase it. So this is a way to meet the needs of both the independence of the adjudicators and the need for the correctional facility to retain the ultimate authority over separate confinement. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Cabinet will be supporting this motion. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Any further questions from committee? Seeing none. The motion is in order. To the motion.