Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know how I'm going to match that. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about Guthrie House and inmates who have trauma and addictions and that. My questions are to the Minister of Justice. In regards to dealing with inmates with trauma and addictions, can the Minister please tell us what the department does to help inmates deal with these matters while they are incarcerated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no doubt that many of those who do end up incarcerated do have issues with trauma and addictions. I can advise that Corrections staff have attended training and workshops on trauma-informed practices to assist them in working with inmates who have experienced trauma, which would be a pretty high percentage of those who are incarcerated.
I can also advise that, along with facility psychologists, Corrections has an addictions counsellor on staff at South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, and traditional counsellors and liaison officers are on staff at both SMCC and North Slave Correctional Centre.
In addition, Corrections Services has implemented several programs, including substance abuse management, violence prevention, living without violence, and respectful relationships designed to help inmates.
Those are some of the programs that are being used in our corrections facilities, and as I say, we do recognize that a very high percentage of those who do end up being incarcerated do have trauma in their lives and also suffer from addictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for that nice answer, and it kind of led into my other question that I already was going to ask. When he talks about these programs, and having staff in the corrections centres, do we have psychologists and addiction counsellors in each of our corrections institutes?
I can advise that psychologists are on staff at North Slave Correctional Complex and the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre providing psychological services to inmates. At the Fort Smith Correctional Complex, on-call psychological services are available. Fort Smith Correctional Centre is entering into a recruitment process for a full-time counsellor.
Corrections psychological services are also made available to those on probation on an as-needed basis, and I can advise also that, along with the facility psychologists I have referenced previously, Corrections has an addictions counsellor on staff at SMCC and traditional counsellors and liaison officers on staff at both SMCC and NSCC. Substance abuse and violence programs are offered at all facilities and most probation offices.
I appreciate the Minister's answer in a little bit more in depth. It is good to see that we are doing those things. My next question is: Mr. Speaker, has the department looked at the Guthrie House model and seen if it is feasible to implement this type of model in the Northwest Territories?
Yes. Many of us, along with staff, did have the opportunity of going to Guthrie House, and I think we were all impressed by what we saw and heard there. Two site visits to the Guthrie Therapeutic Community in Nanaimo, British Columbia, have been conducted. We met staff and inmates, and, as I say, I think we were all impressed from what we heard from both staff and inmates. So, the corrections service has established a committee to examine the feasibility of implementing a therapeutic-community model for addictions in the South Slave, South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, so we are researching the issue. We are contemplating the number of inmates who might avail themselves of this type of program and also looking at changes that might be required to the physical plan, the facility, itself. So, yes, this issue is being carefully examined. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I have had conversations with him previously, and I am very encouraged to see this happening. Mr. Speaker, what were some of the things that they saw that can implemented right away for the betterment of our inmates, that we saw at the Guthrie House?
Yes, as I mentioned earlier, I think we were both very impressed with both staff and the inmates at the Guthrie House, and I can advise that the department is currently in the final stages of curriculum development for the pre-treatment healing addictions programs to be facilitated out of SMCC. So, we went down to Nanaimo, we listened and learned, and we are making progress in this important matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
