Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls held its meeting here in Yellowknife and will continue to meet people across Canada. My question is to the Minister responsible for Justice: what is the role of the Northwest Territories Department of Justice in supporting, monitoring, and following up on the work of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The commission, of course, is an individual commission and does not have any employees within or from any of the territories. The department and this government does realize that violence against Indigenous women is a national crisis. This has been borne out by what we have heard from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Inquiry.
We are assisting the GNWT with a dedicated family information liaison unit that is a research team to help the victims find relevant documents from across the country. We are assisting in that way. We are not part of the staff of the commission because, as I said, they have to be independent, but we are assisting. Thank you.
What is the status of the Northwest Territories Men's Healing Program? To the Minister of Justice, again.
As Members will recall, this program has been under new management since June of last year. I understand that the program is working quite successfully. There have been quite a few men who have indicated interest in the program, so there was a seamless delivery of the program as the new management took over last year, or rather, July.
How will this programming be enhanced in the coming year?
As I mentioned, there was a seamless delivery of the program as the new management took over, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been looking at improvements, so here are some of the improvements we are contemplating: we want to make the program more flexible so that men will be able to join the group as soon as they are ready and get back into the program should they drop out. The program is more connected to community programs, such as counselling, victim services; an enhanced screening and referral process ensures continuity of service for men who are not ready to join a group so they can be referred to other groups for assistance.
The programming is more connected to the programming that the Correction Service offers. A New Day is not appropriate for delivery in the correctional facility itself, so outreach is targeted to offenders who are being released and can then join the program. So those are some of the enhancements and improvements that we are making.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance recently announced the initiative to advance the idea of a historical case unit. I want to understand: would the Minister of the Department of Justice know what role that his department will play in basically going forward with that initiative and how perhaps that process could provide a level of support and assurances to families of missing persons? Mahsi.
Yes, I believe the Member opposite, Mr. Speaker, is referring to the unit within the RCMP that will be looking at historical cases. I can advise that we'll be working closely with the RCMP with respect to this matter. I meet with a commanding officer, Mr. Zettler, quarterly. This is an issue that I would certainly raise with him. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
