Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. The Department of Justice has been working on the development of a mental health diversion court in response to repeated committee requests and motions passed in this and the 16th Assembly. The Minister has told me that justices are generally supportive but need to be assured that the model to be used will satisfy conditions for being a legal alternative form of sentencing.
How is the Minister working to ensure that this legal test is met and when can we expect to see these proposals for review by committee? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An interdepartmental committee consisting of members of the departments of Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment, MACA, Justice and the Executive are working on this initiative. The committee expects to complete its assessment of the feasibility of a specialized court by March 31, 2013, at which point I’ll will be coming to committee to share the findings as well as the options that exist, and looking for committee’s support on moving on one of those options.
The judiciary has expressed a significant interest in a specialized court but had some reservations about the nature and the type of court. They seem to be more interested in a broader approach taken similar to a wellness court as opposed to a specific mental health court. We are looking and talking to them on a regular basis. We are looking and talking to the committee on a regular basis to find out what those needs are, what the desires are, and we will be bringing that to committee once it’s completed on March 31st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, of course, committee has been quite clear in their interest in a mental health court, as have most jurisdictions in North America. The Minister has acknowledged that Justice and Health and Social Services must work closely together if a mental health or wellness court to be put in place.
Is the Minister working closely with his colleague in Health to ensure that the concerns of justices regarding the assurance that the mental health services are put in place before proceedings with the new court are met? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, there are many options. Wellness court, mental wellness court or mental health court is one; wellness courts are others. We don’t know which type of court we are going to be moving forward with. We’re going to be bringing forth those recommendations to discuss with committee. Mental health court is just one example.
With respect to working together, the Minister of Health and I have had many conversations on this, and we have both directed our staff to be involved and to work on these exact initiatives. As I have indicated, there is an interdepartmental committee consisting of members from Health and Social Services, Justice, as well as other departments that are working on this initiative. We’ll be coming forth on March 31st with some information and options for committee to consider, review and have some discussions on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has told me that justices want these mental health services in place. In his work with the Minister of Health, and in recognizing that the programs being proposed for 2013-14 are in the budget, will these programs meet, as proposed, the needs assessed by justice requirements for a mental health court? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the need for the programming that will be supported by the type of court, if any that are supported by this government, is something that we are working on with the Department of Health and Social Services. The committee is involved. They are working together. It is a committee of Justice, Health and Social Services. By March 31st we’ll have a better idea of exactly what programming is going to be required in order to support the different models. Until we actually choose a model, with support of committee, we won’t know exactly the programming that is needed, but we are starting to get a sense and that information will be available by March 31st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been at this for several years now, so I’m glad the Minister is getting a sense. We were told by Health that, in fact, these programs will meet the mental health court requirements.
Is the Justice department going to be prepared to fund a court, given that those conditions are met, for 2013-14 and the feasibility study will, obviously, be done this fiscal year? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the Member’s timeline is a little bit different than the timeline I’m working on. I remember that a motion was passed in the 16th Assembly. Nothing happened. A motion was passed in the 17th Assembly, which is only about 18 months old, so we’ve been working on this for 18 months. We have a lot of good information. We have taken a lot of information to committee. We are working with committee.
Once again, the Member continues to refer to a mental health court. We’re not sure that that’s the option that’s going to be supported by committee, but we will be having those discussions.
At the end of the day, if this is supported by committee, the options are supported by committee, and the committee wants us to move forward on a court, we will be bringing it through as part of the business planning cycle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
