Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just further to the Minister's response, we do engage with the RCMP as we administer the contract, and, quite often, the RCMP will identify internal pressures or national trends that require that we look at ways of addressing them in the territories, as well. Those conversations are usually quite useful and do allow that twoway conversation about how RCMP direction of their resources lines up with the needs of the territory. On that example, there was complete alignment, so it was a very easy discussion, where we were able to say we do support that initiative and will seek additional resources to make that happen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Goldney. Ms. Green.
Yes. I will make this my final question. So, if we wanted to see a specialized sexual assault unit established in Yellowknife, what steps would be required to make that a reality? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Ultimately, that would be a decision of the RCMP. However, as I mentioned, we do consult with them. If we thought this was a particularly good idea, which I imagine we might, I could certainly bring it forth to the commanding officer, and then he could respond. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. As there are no further questions or comments, I will call this activity. Page 257, Justice, community justice and policing, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $5,238,000. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of the activity, community justice and policing, in the Department of Justice, Main Estimates, 201718, on page 257, at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. There is a motion to defer. The motion is on the floor and being distributed. The motion is in order and nondebatable. All those in favour? All those opposed?
Carried
Committee, we have deferred community justice and policing. We will continue on to the next activity, corrections. It can be found starting at page 260, continuing on to page 263. Do we have comments or questions on corrections? If so, please specify the page which you are speaking on. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to ask some questions about inmates serving federal time in the Northwest Territories. I will start by asking: can the Minister tell us approximately how many federal inmates are serving time in the Northwest Territories at this point?
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, I can. I see the figure as of today is nine. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like the Minister to comment on whether this is an increase, a decrease, or an average, say, over the last five years. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Although the number does go up and down, certainly, I have seen higher ones at other times, but I think this is more or less within the average. There is probably a range of numbers, but I don't think this is anything out of the ordinary, neither extraordinarily high nor extraordinarily low. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am wondering if the Minister can tell us about the decision to have federal inmates serve their time in the NWT versus sending them south. How does Corrections help make that decision? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Federal inmates are those who receive a sentence more than two years. I understand that Corrections Canada is the ultimate determinant of where they will be placed, although they do consult with the prison authorities here. Judges, for example, can recommend but cannot actually determine the placement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So what kinds of issues would Corrections NWT look at in deciding whether we have the appropriate facility for someone who is serving federal time, or is that not a question that gets asked?
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
The determination, Mr. Chair, as to where an inmate will serve his time is dependent on a series of factors: obviously, where they are from; the length of their sentence; access, also, to programs. Sometimes there are specialized programs that can only be delivered in the South. Certainly, all those things would be factors in making that determination. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you. Could the Minister tell us: about how many inmates get sent south because the programming isn't available here in the North? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Often, those ones who are sent south, if it is for the reasons of access to programming, are inmates in need of specialized psychiatric or psychological assistance. Unfortunately, I don't know. I don't think I have the numbers in front of me, and it may be difficult to actually obtain those numbers. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you. So, probably the question of can the programming be provided in the North or whether qualified staff can be hired, it is going to be difficult to answer without knowing how many inmates this applies to. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Often, the numbers of those in need of these specialized services who are actually serving penitentiary time are not all that numerous, so I don't think we would have the numbers required to set up specialized services here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you for that answer, and thank you, Mr. Chair. What kind of programming is offered to people who are on remand in the North Slave Correctional Centre? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
I know that this was a gap that was identified some time ago. We are trying to address that gap. Perhaps I could have the deputy minister expand on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
I think the deputy minister is going to address that gap. Thank you.
I apologize. I was trying to do two things at once. Mr. Goldney.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That has been an issue and a challenge for correctional facilities, not just in our jurisdiction but all jurisdictions. The challenge quite often is that the length of stay for remanded inmates is largely unknown and depends on court scheduling and other factors, so it becomes very challenging and very difficult to provide programming in every case. We do, however, make effort and have made effort to make programming, where available, to remanded inmates.
The other challenge, of course, is sometimes the security levels for remanded inmates might be higher than our program allows for at any given time, so that does present a challenge, not unlike other jurisdictions in that regard. Where we can provide the programs and make them available to remanded inmates, we make every effort to. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if the Minister could provide a little extra detail such as what percentage of remanded inmates do get any kind of programming and what kind of programming is most commonly offered to them? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not have those figures before us, but we believe we could assemble those figures and provide them. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you very much to the Minister for making that commitment to come back with what percentage of inmates get some kind of programming and what kind of programming they get. I think this is my last question in this section, and that is the financial impact of taking federal inmates. I am assuming that Corrections Canada pays the territorial government for housing federal inmates. What do they pay in this case? Thank you.
Thank you. Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair, I do know that the federal government does in fact pay for inmates who are up here, so it is not as though we suffer any loss from it. In fact, I understand, looking at some figures, that $1.6 million is anticipated, and the actuals in 2015-16 were for $1.35 million.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further? Ms. Green.
