Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Often our people, for some reason, go astray and it takes great effort to bring people back on the trail. My question is for the Premier.
The Auditor General has indicated that correctional facilities don’t seem to have enough program dollars specifically allocated for rehabilitation of inmates. That sounds like a failure on the government’s part to live up to its statutory obligations.
Will this government be providing additional funding to ensure that inmates receive programming aimed at rehabilitation and reintegration?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To enhance accountability, the development of a performance assurance and accountability framework commenced last year. This framework outlines consistent and effective management as well as proper monitoring of procedures and protocols and improved rehabilitative and reintegration programs. The framework will be fully implemented by 2016.
I’d like to thank the Premier for indicating just the progress in terms of the department that’s mandated to oversee the correctional facilities. Often, too, because of our government and our zest to try and help each other, we sometimes take an institutional approach as contrasted with going out on the land as a healing element.
I would like to ask about on-the-land programs. The 2013 Minister’s Forum on Addictions called for more on-the-land treatment options. What it heard is that on-the-land programs are very effective as long as the approach isn’t overly bureaucratic.
Why isn’t this type of programming being used in all of our correctional facilities?
Earlier on, the government made a statement about on-the-land programs with the Department of Justice. We did have a number of programs and they fell by the wayside because of a number of operational issues. The Department of Justice is going out for expressions of interest to have these programs come into effect. I did discuss it with the office of the Auditor General as part of the rehabilitation. As you know, having inmates go out on the land has to be a voluntary situation. We can’t force them to go on on-the-land programs. That is part of the issue as well.
I have heard the Department of Justice on the south side of the lake has had good results out of Hay River, South Slave and the Deh Cho regions by using a team-based approach to community reintegration.
Will the government be expanding this type of program across the territory so that all offenders have an appropriate degree of support when they return to their communities?
All inmates sentenced, remands and intermittents, should receive case management assessments. We agree and we will be working to ensure case plans to guide inmate rehabilitations are developed for all inmates including release dates. Plans will need to be documented, monitored and adjusted as necessary. This is what the Auditor General has recommended and we have agreed and we accept all of his recommendations.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Premier commit to this House that as the Department of Justice works towards 2016, in terms of unveiling the framework to at least address the concerns that were raised by the Auditor General’s report, that he will keep this side of the House informed and updated as to the progress?
On behalf of the government, we will commit to ensuring we do that as we do all of this important work to implement the recommendations of the Auditor General. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Moses.
