Debates of February 10, 2006 (day 27)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions for the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Brendan Bell. I have a couple of questions that I asked him in the last session with some community concerns with the Community Justice Program. I know that the funding, or the lack of funding, for community justice workers and justice committees is seriously inadequate in a lot of the communities. With the rollout of the Youth Justice Act, it has put an extra strain on these committees because some of the caseloads have doubled because, in the Act, it clearly states that the youth cases have to be directed to the local justice committees. Has the funding, or the lack of funding, for these workers and the committees been addressed in this latest budget and been customized to meet the needs of communities? Different communities have different needs and different caseloads. Is that the case, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Bell.

Return To Question 384-15(4): Review Of Community Justice Programs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; different communities have different needs and caseloads. On top of it, it can fluctuate quite dramatically from year to year. It is something that is a concern for us. We are currently looking at the funding to justice committees. I have asked the department to undertake a review. One of the things that I think we know, anecdotally though, is that some of the communities that receive funding have very active community justice committees, and others receiving funding, as well, have ones that are not so active. We are trying to better understand why. It doesn’t just seem to be about the money, Mr. Speaker. It seems to be about the involvement of the community in the justice committee. So I think we need to understand and look at best practices, understand why some are working better than others. That is the nature of this review. I am hoping to have some results for committee shortly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 384-15(4): Review Of Community Justice Programs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to top up what the Minister was actually alluding, to I realize that there are different caseloads in the communities and should be addressed as such, and funding should go to the communities that are very busy. Just to let the Minister know, different communities have different crime rates. Some communities have low crime rates. Therefore, their justice committees just don’t have the work cut out for them as a lot of my communities do with high crime rates and high unemployment and stuff. What is the rationale in this department’s way of thinking? Why do we want to build fancy new jails and $41 million courthouses and renovate old jails? How is that rationale going to address the problem of crime rates at the community level? Where is the rationale on that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 384-15(4): Review Of Community Justice Programs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, different communities have different crime rates. How active community justice committees are really does tend to depend on the willingness of the community, the local RCMP to divert to these community justice committees. I think the community has to be comfortable with that approach. You mentioned the YCJA and the new philosophy. In the transition from the old Young Offenders Act, that has played an important role. But, Mr. Speaker, I am not suggesting that keeping our facilities adequate and up to date reduces the crime rate, but it is part of the overall justice system. We have to recognize the pressure on courts has really exploded over the last five years. We do have a lot of issues that we need to deal with. I am not trying at all to diminish the fact that our community justice committees need to be adequately supported. Those workers need to have adequate training. As a department, we need to work hand in hand with them to make sure that it is an effective piece of our correction system. I am committed to doing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 384-15(4): Review Of Community Justice Programs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When is his department going to review and overhaul the Community Justice Program? I know that it is something that has been brought to his attention over the last couple of years. It is steadily coming to my office by our community justice workers. It seems to be an issue that seems to be talked about quite often, but nothing really seems to come out of it. When is the Minister going to commit to actually getting something going? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 384-15(4): Review Of Community Justice Programs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly commit to coming back to committee with some timelines for this review of justice committees. I know the Member is well aware, but he and his community leadership in Fort Res petitioned the community to talk about the increase of not only crime, but the number of probation cases. We have responded and provided some funding for a probation worker in that community because it hasn’t been adequate to receive a service from Hay River. There is too much of a workload there, so we are working with the leadership. We are working with the Member to respond. We recognized that this was urgent and have moved to fill that void. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.