Yeah, thank you. I see that the victim services line item is increases. So perhaps I'm just going to assume this money moving around due to federal agreements. I guess I just I think community justice is not running as well as we all would like it to. I know that fine options is not even always available in Yellowknife let alone in every community. Diversion is, you know, really dependent on when you got a community justice committee up and running. I know we've struggled to staff many of our community justice committees.
And I know that they really struggle to run the level of programming that alternative measures is doing elsewhere. Certainly none of them would be capable of doing multiple week kind of on the land programming or really doing much more than holding a meeting and kind of getting a little bit of a diversion plan. You know, I have lots of thoughts on this. I guess my thought is that we probably need some more coordination. There probably needs to be some territorywide staff who could fly around and work with all the community justice committees. We probably need some new programming money for healing circles, etcetera, but I'll wrap that all into a question. And I'm just wondering if there's any sort of review going on in regards to how we deliver community justice? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
I'll hand it to the deputy minister.
Deputy minister Doolittle.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There's no formal review going on at the moment. This is something we can certainly consider. Our community justice committee process is decentralized. It is communityled. We did do some really training posting a training symposium just this February 14th and 16th. We are very focused on building capacity and these positions do change often and, you know, could be dependent on the communities that they're hosted in. But we do try to work with communities, build capacity, build training, and work with our partners to, you know, run good diversion programs. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Yeah, I guess I complain about reviews sometimes but I've seen some reviews lead to really good results. And I think this is one where there probably needs to be a rethink. Even a wellrun community justice committee with a good staff person is pretty limited in what they can do. You know, they can hold a couple meetings and they can work with the accused and get them to do some volunteer service but they're certainly not able to get to run any sort of larger programming.
And I think that's the step that's missing. I'll frame that in a bit of a question. I see there's some federal money flowing into this area. Do we know if there's any work to secure additional funds; you know, for the type of programming that this House always talks about, you know, on the land programming, mental health programming, treatment programming, anything you can kind of do to get our youth who are diverted or accused who are diverted to do a little bit more than the very small work that diversion is presently doing? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. The department does receive a significant amount of federal funding for a number of different projects. Many of our initiatives are not funded by the GNWT solely but for the federal government and so we do understand the value of having federal partners, and the department is constantly looking for federal funds. You know, we've received some new funding through new agreements through those efforts recently. So, yes, we're alive to that. We would like federal funds. We're looking for federal funds all the time. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any other questions from Members under community justice? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I just want to ask some questions about victim services. This is something I raised in the last Assembly and the thenMinister agreed to do a review of victim services, and I think it actually ended up resulting in an increase in funding, which was one of my objectives. But it looks like there's some federal funding that's coming in because, on page 300, victim assistance support projects is going from well, it went from 20222023 Main Estimates from $945,000 to over $2 million. So can someone explain what the extra $2 million is for? I'll start there. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. And this was mentioned earlier, and I wanted to comment on it but I didn't. But the Department of Justice does receive a lot of federal funding through agreements. Those agreements never seem to line up well with the main estimates process and so we'll often come here with a line item of zero or a certain number that will then be adjusted through a supplementary appropriation once we sign that agreement. So Members will probably be seeing a bit of that in here. But for a specific answer, I'd hand it to Mr. Bancroft. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Bancroft.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And the Member is correct, there's a significant increase there made up of $725,000 with regards to enhancing victim services. Along with that agreement, we received an extra $2.3 million over a fouryear span for the independent legal advice service to be provided to victims of crime. Specifically for 20232024, the last increase was $607,000. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. So we're, I guess, maybe a year or more into that federal funding. How successful has it been in terms of victims receiving independent legal advice? I'll start with that. Thanks.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. This is a very new initiative; it just started. I'm not quite sure how far along it is. I don't think it's far along enough to be able to provide that type of information. I'm not sure if either of my witnesses has more information on this. I'd hand it to the deputy minister.
Deputy minister Doolittle.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We're in the process of formalizing this. We have started it informally but we are going out seeking panels of lawyers who will provide legal advice to victims. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess one of the concerns I'm getting is these kind of batches of federal funding is what happens to the service when the funding ends? Because, you know, you create expectations, draws; you know, people begin to rely on that service and then all of a sudden the federal funding ends and then are we actually going to fund this stuff ourselves. That's, I guess, what I ask. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So that's a decision for the, I believe, 20262027 budget year, because that's when the agreement will expire. It expires in 2026. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, thanks. Maybe I'll be a zombie and come back. Thanks.
So I guess one of the concerns I've heard about victim services is that, you know, we offer that the money to communities, to regions to do this, and they kind of do it in different ways and there's probably some need for some greater consistency there. But do we actually have full coverage across the whole NWT now for victim services? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So we have been adding positions. Last year there was a new position added to Fort Providence. There was a new position added in Fort McPherson. So we are using the money that we have internally to explore more creative ways to expand these services and we have been able to do that. But there's not someone in every single community in the territory if that's what the Member is asking. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
No, thanks for that answer. Is there any money in this budget for further positions or, you know, I don't know, some regions may want to take a regional approach; I don't know. But is there any additional funding in this budget for further agreements/contributions, to allow for this service to be extended? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. Not specifically.
Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, okay, thanks, Madam Chair. Is there actually even a plan or a strategy to kind of complete a network across the NWT? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So like I said, we are always looking for more federal funds and we're continuing to do that. If we had a bigger budget, we could create those positions but the fact is that we have the budget we have and we have to work within it. And we have been able to do that and still expand the program. So until we can secure some significant federal funds, we'll continue to work in that manner. Thank you.
Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, no thanks. I guess I just kind of remember, I think it was within health and social services maybe even maybe it was actually this department that did a return on social investment evaluation for the integrated or no, integrated case management. It was actually a really good study, and I want to compliment the department for having done that. And I'm not talking about it in the context of this but that kind of approach, I think, should be applied to victim services and doing a bit more of a review at some point soon because you're going to need a case to take to the FMB to get more money to complete that network. Without the funding, without the proposal, the socalled business case, you won't be able to do it. So I guess I'd like to just put in the Minister's ear a bug to actually do that work, make it a bit of a priority in your transition work for the next Assembly, that there be some work to actually develop this network. Well, do that return on social investment study if you want to, but I do think we need to pay more attention to this area and develop a full network across the NWT to better serve our citizens. So I'll just leave it at that. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, I appreciate those comments. The department has, like the Member mentioned, we have undertaken some reviews. We've been chipping away, making our way through our programs, implementing new initiatives. So while we can't get to everything at once, I do take the Member's advice seriously. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to say that in the 14 years as chief of Salt River First Nation, these two items were used constantly, and the office in Fort Smith is running well. The people that work there care about everybody that goes through that door. I've had to access this office many times as chief because it's always our people that are put up before a system that is impossible to defeat. And there is always someone there to assist the client and assist Salt River to ensure that the best outcome always came. And I want to commend you for that. I don't like that the budget is being reduced. I think that enhancement is very important. I'm glad that victim services is being increased. And it should be increased more especially with some of the things that have been happening in the communities because of drug addiction and all these other things that are happening in the territories, and it affects a lot of people with victim services. And I think that we have to work to make sure that the budget with victim services is increased for the victim. And I don't have a lot of questions because I just want to make sure that, you know, one of my colleagues said that this doesn't work, that maybe it doesn't work in his community of Yellowknife but in Fort Smith, I've had nothing but positive things to say about this branch, because they go out of their way for the people that will never be able to get through that front door with justice. And it's an excellent oversight, and the people that work there are incredible. And that's all I have to say. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. I'll take that as a comment. Are there any further Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, my questions are in regards to the men's healing program. I note that the contributions remain unchanged, and I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how many communities are supported by this program currently and the anticipated number of communities that will be supported by that program fund in the following fiscal year?
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So right now there are programs in Inuvik, Behchoko, Sambaa K'e, Fort Simpson, and Fort Providence. The programs the contribution agreements for the programs in Sambaa K'e and Fort Providence expire at the end of this fiscal year, and the other ones expire in 2024. There is not a change to this budget but there's no decrease to the budget either, don't intend to roll this back at all. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So at the end of this fiscal year, we'll go from five programs being supported to three programs being supported. Is the intent to open the funding back up then to two more communities, or what is the intent for the next fiscal year for the men's healing fund? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
