Debates of October 13, 2004 (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, as a result of the very unfortunate and tragic events surrounding the Canada Corrections parole officer who lost her life here in Yellowknife last week, a lot of people in the public have raised questions now with respect to the federal parolees who are at large and living in our communities here in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice what kind of communications take place between federal Corrections Canada and our government, the Department of Justice, with respect to parolees, inmates who have been released who are back and integrated into the communities in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Justice, the Honourable Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 207-15(3): Federal Parolees In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it depends a lot on the parolee. Because of an Exchange of Services Agreement with Justice Canada, in most communities outside of Yellowknife we provide supervision services. So there may be, at any given time, a number of federal parolees who are being supervised by NWT parole officers. In those circumstances, we will have worked closely with national parole to know who they are, what their terms of release are and work with them closely on the supervision. In those instances in Yellowknife where the parolee is under the supervision of a Corrections Canada person, there is not a direct notification for us that somebody has been released to parole. The decision as to whether or not to issue a public information disclosure, for instance, would be made by the RCMP and the request for that would be made by Corrections Canada personnel if they felt there was reason to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your first supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 207-15(3): Federal Parolees In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that this is not the first instance of this type. Just a couple of weeks ago in the newspaper, it was determined the information was released that a Hay River child was in fact murdered by another parolee who had done federal time for murder previously. This is a small jurisdiction. Now there are two incidents within one year. Does the Minister see a way in which things could be improved in terms of communication? The court case would seem to indicate in one instance that the judge felt that there was a dangerous offender. Is there not a registry or some way that the public can be informed of this, or the RCMP even can be informed of it so they know the whereabouts of these folks and the fact that they do have this kind of a history and a record? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 207-15(3): Federal Parolees In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with the Member that the two incidents about which she speaks are indeed tragedies and we’d like to make sure that I extend the government’s and I think all Members of this House condolences to the families of those who were involved. Particularly, both incidents were quite disturbing. In terms of notification, the RCMP are notified when an offender is released on parole. So they would have been aware in this instance of the release of the offender on parole, and the RCMP has the jurisdiction to determine whether or not a public information disclosure is made. Those are made on the request of staff from either Corrections Canada or Justice, depending on who was involved in overseeing the situation.

In some cases a personal information disclosure is made, in others it isn’t, but it’s made according to a decision that it taken by a committee of people who are involved in reviewing the circumstances around a person’s release back into society. So the notification takes place to the RCMP and the decision is then up to the RCMP as to whether a personal information disclosure should be made or a public information disclosure should be made to inform the public that somebody has been released. As I understand it, the decision is made based on an assessment of a person’s likelihood to re-offend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 207-15(3): Federal Parolees In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question I have for the Minister then is will the GNWT Department of Justice be involved in an examination of the procedures and protocols surrounding the work of parole and probation officers in the Northwest Territories? We also have probation officers who work in a number of our communities. Will the issues around protocol and the safety of these officers be visited and revisited after the results of this investigation? Will you participate in this investigation of this incident as a government and will you revisit the protocols that are used by our probation officers that are employed by the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. There may have been two questions there. Mr. Dent, you may respond to one or both. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 207-15(3): Federal Parolees In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if we’re invited by Corrections Canada to participate formally we would be happy to do that. I believe that we have had one member of our staff from Justice who has been approached about serving on the committee. So whether it’s formal or informal I know that we will have some way of knowing what the outcome of the investigation is. I can assure the Member that our policies and procedures and the safety of GNWT staff is something that is of paramount concern, and an incident like this would, of course, cause us to review our policies and procedures.

I should have informed the House that we had instituted some time ago a policy whereby no member, whether male or female, of our parole staff would make a home visit unescorted. So our staff are required to visit either in pairs or with the assistance of an RCMP officer when they make home visits. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.