Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to continue today asking some questions to the government about how it intends to address the incidents of family violence in our Territory. Mr. Speaker, I’ve been asking questions here all week and I was reading the CBC site this morning and it looks like we’ve got a new family violence treatment program coming along set to open, as the story indicates, next month. I’ve asked a number of questions this week and neither the Minister of Justice nor the Minister of Health and Social Services said anything about this new program. I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice what he knows about this new program and when it’s going to be started. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When I outlined the programs that were being offered at corrections, I did mention various different programs that are available. Also, the Member is referring to the domestic violence, I believe. I’m just looking up the information here.
Mr. Speaker, this is a program that’s going to be scheduled to be delivered as of March and we are looking forward to that. That’s the Domestic Violence Treatment Option through court. So I did mention that when I was highlighting all my programs, all of the programs that are being offered to those individuals. It is an option for low-risk offenders who are willing to take on the responsibility for what they’ve done and participate in the treatment program. So that is the program that the Member is referring to. Mahsi.
Thank you. I must have missed that, this new family violence treatment program that the Minister says he talked about. I’ll have to go back and check Hansard. I don’t believe I heard that. I also didn’t hear the family violence court process like the Yukon has that is supposed to be implemented here in the Northwest Territories sometime down the road. That’s something else I’d like to ask the Minister about, but perhaps while I can, I’m going to ask the Minister, he did mention some programming that is currently in place at the North Slave Correctional Centre, one that deals with emotions and anger and the other one that deals with family violence. Mr. Speaker, last year the program that deals with anger and emotions was offered one time, a six-week program offered one time in a year. The other program that deals with family violence was offered one time in a year.
Mr. Speaker, again, I’m going to ask the Justice Minister will he review the frequency, content and the quality of the programs being offered to people that are incarcerated in our correctional system? Thank you.
Mahsi. From time to time we do offer different programming at the North Slave Correctional Centre. In 2010, in October, we also offered the National Sex Offender Program. This is a federal program. Also, different programs are being offered at corrections. I have the list here. We have programs that are being delivered and I can definitely share that with the Members around the room. This is an area of interest for us, how we can rehabilitate those individuals back into the communities. The Member is asking for a review of what’s out there. Again, we have done that review. We can look at those programs that we have currently and the programs that we’ve delivered in the past and possibly bring back some of those programs that have been successful. Those are the areas I can look at. Mahsi.
Thank you. My intent in all of this is to work with the Minister and work with the government in ensuring that we make sure that public safety is a priority here in our Territory.
Again, I want to take issue with the fact that we’ve got two programs that are running out there. The Anger and Emotions Program, a six-week course, and the family violence course. Both of those courses, Mr. Speaker, were offered once last year. That is not enough and it’s little wonder people are ending up in our court system 16, 17 and 18 times. The system is failing, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to ask the Minister if he’ll review the frequency, the quality, the content, the full gamut of what programming and services are available out at North Slave Correctional Centre and the rest of the corrections system here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Mahsi. I did already commit to the Member that I will have my department look at these programs that were offered. Those programs that the Member is referring to, if they’ve been successful in the past, definitely they can be brought back. I need to work with the Members on that and also with corrections. Those that are not on the list, we need to explore those areas as well. I know several Members have raised other programs in the past and those are programs that we’re also looking at possibly delivering in the correctional institution as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also in that news story it talks about the Family Violence Treatment Program being the first of two new programs that the government is going to bring forward to address domestic violence in our Territory. I’d like to ask the Minister when the work towards the establishment of these programs was brought to the Standing Committee on Social Programs and whether or not the government sought the input of the standing committee, Mr. Speaker, and where the money is in the ‘11-12 budget to accomplish these two new programs that apparently are coming along. Thank you.
Mahsi. The Member is asking for detailed information. I can definitely provide that to him. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
