Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about corrections. I have questions for the Minister of Justice. I'd like to ask the Minister if there are any programs in corrections with a goal of preventing inmates from returning to corrections. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, the Member raised certain issues in his speech, and certainly, the department is aware of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons in the corrections system. We are trying to address this by a series of programs. The department continues to improve the link between programs delivered to inmates in custody and community-based programs involving probation services, community justice and other departments and agencies such as Health and Social Services. We are also attempting to look at the underlying root causes and hopefully reduce the numbers referred to by the Member opposite. Thank you.
I'd like to ask the Minister if there's staff in the corrections facility, themselves working for the Department of Justice, that work with the inmates on their mental health, addictions, and educational issues.
Territorial inmates can participate in many programs, both inside the corrections facilities and outside. Territorial inmates can participate in the addictions programs at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, which is facilitated by a traditional addictions counsellor with the support of elders and community resources. There are also other programs that they can participate in. Also, through the courts, there are manners of dealing with these types of problems, either through wellness courts or DVTO court.
I'd like to ask the Minister if there is any specific Aboriginal cultural programming at the North Slave Correction Centre.
Yes, I believe there are programs at the North Slave Correctional Centre that do have an Aboriginal component. The department currently offers a six-week national substance abuse program to federal and territorial inmates at the North Slave Correctional Centre, and I believe this has a wellness component involving programs for Aboriginal inmates, and hopefully, through programs such as this we can reduce the number of Aboriginal inmates, which is currently approximately 87 per cent of the population.
Masi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if the department has seen a reduction in inmate population over the past five years. Thank you.
I’m not sure of the exact statistics. I do know, looking at the statistics, dealing with the number of Aboriginal inmates, that has remained constant. I understand that the overall number of inmates has remained constant over the last five or six years, being approximately 200. We would certainly like to see a reduction of this, and that's why programs such as the Wellness Court Program and DVTO will hopefully reduce the number of those actually incarcerated.
Masi. Member for Frame Lake.
