Debates of February 15, 2005 (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I talked about how I perceive the Dene K’onia Young Offenders Facility to have been a very major piece of the youth justice system in the Northwest Territories in helping young people who have come in contact with the legal system, with the court system, to get back on their feet and get reintegrated into their communities. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Justice what the alternative plan is now for dealing with young offenders who are sentenced in the courts to serve time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for young offenders who are sentenced to custody through the courts, there has always been a range of options. One is if they’re sentenced to the secure custody facility here in Yellowknife; it’s available to house them. Typically what happens to offenders who are sentenced to secure custody, they go through that facility into an open custody facility and then move on into either a camp or a residential home. The goal is to try and integrate young offenders back into the community and move them as quickly as possible into a residential setting. What has happened is, with the numbers in custody over the last couple of years, we have a very limited number in open custody. Last week when I checked, we had six males in open custody, I believe, and with two facilities we couldn’t justify keeping them both open. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so you had two facilities: one completely staffed up with experienced people, operational; another one just finished being constructed, not staffed up, obviously newer people in those positions. What was the determining factor that made the choice between the two facilities to be that Yellowknife would be a facility open for open custody young offenders and that Hay River would be closed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, was that the facility in Yellowknife is a combined facility. One half of it is for secure custody and the other is open custody. Because it is the only secure custody facility in the Northwest Territories, we can’t close the facility down. So the level of savings that could be achieved by not operating the open side were not nearly the same as what could be achieved by closing a facility down completely. That was one of the reasons. The other was just the fact, as the Member noted, that one was newer than the other, and the issue of programming is one that the facility has been operating for nearly two years now in Yellowknife. The programming is of a similar nature to that offered at Dene K’onia and we can offer the same types of programming. Thank you.

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

Supplementary To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated previously that the number of young people who are sentenced to open custody facilities has been reduced by new legislation that has come into place with respect to youth justice. At this time, the populations and the numbers are lower; the census is lower than it has been in the past. Does the Minister not see this as a temporary situation and, if he did see this as a temporary situation, what’s the contingency plan for when those numbers come up again after you’ve dismantled this key piece of infrastructure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if we look at all of the young offenders facilities that we have or the spaces that we have for young offenders right now, we’re not anywhere near 50 percent occupancy. It will take some time before we get up to a level where we expect that we would need these facilities again. Whether it’s two years, five years or 10 years, I can’t predict how long it’s going to be before we need more facilities. I would hope that we never need more facilities, but, if we do, then we can deal with that through either the provision of homes for young offenders, which is one of the preferred options. If necessary, we can even look at building a group home, which may be another option, and it was something that the Department of Justice proposed two or three years ago to replace Dene K’onia with in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so is the Minister saying that if the group home facility had been built in Hay River, that we would have an open custody facility operating in Hay River today? Because I look at the young offenders at Dene K’onia and it’s a very similar layout and building type to any group home that I’ve ever seen. So when the Minister brings that up, is it to say that if they had built that facility that it would be open and operating today, and that with Dene K’onia we would not have seen the complete loss of this facility and these jobs in Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 383-15(3): Young Offenders Sentenced To Custody

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, that wasn’t the intent when I said that. I have no way of knowing what might have happened if there were different facilities in place. We’ve worked entirely on what was in place. My point was that a group home is not an expensive facility to build. It doesn’t need to have security. It’s basically a family home type of setting. So it is something that isn’t expensive to add to the inventory if it’s ever needed, in comparison to a facility like the open custody facility we have here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.