Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak to a situation that has recently been highlighted by one particular remanded individual. This man was arrested, determined to need a psychiatric assessment and held in jail to wait for an appointment for his assessment. It is now some eight months later that he has finally gone out to get the evaluation that he needs.
This may be a one-of-a-kind experience, not the norm, and I certainly hope it’s not the norm, but it is an experience, nevertheless, which should not occur. I understand the courts and the accused must wait for an available placement date, but to wait eight months? That’s not acceptable, Mr. Speaker.
This particular incident clearly shows us a need for the Department of Justice to evaluate their agreements with external providers. I believe that is Alberta Health agreements regarding psychiatric assessments. What we have now is not working. If Alberta cannot provide timely access to treatment and evaluations, then we must look elsewhere.
Why do we not have agreements with Saskatchewan, Manitoba or British Columbia in addition to Alberta? Better yet, Mr. Speaker, why not establish our own service here in the NWT? Oh, there is not enough demand is the likely answer. But we must think bigger. We must think outside of just the justice box. Who else could use a psychiatric assessment centre? Well, Education and Health and Social Services for a start. How many children and adults are sent out for testing or assessment for all sorts of disorders? Has the GNWT ever considered establishing such a centre in the NWT? I suspect not.
We are still too bound to our department silos. Each department is protecting their own turf, looking inward and not outward. An NWT psychiatric assessment and testing centre would not only be used by the courts but by education authorities, health authorities and possibly NGOs. The program review office of the government is supposed to be the area of government looking for efficiencies. I challenge that office to try this one on for size, to find the efficiencies in this situation. Calculate how much money is spent sending children, patients and criminals out for assessment and testing, and then compare that to the cost of our own centre in the NWT. I suspect we will be surprised. At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Justice. Thank you.
