Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, I believe we have. Within our programming there’s been a review undertaken to have an overall look at the whole programming that we offer at corrections. There have been some changes reflected on that, Mr. Speaker. We’ve heard from inmates, from the people in the public to say these are particular programs that should be offered, whether it be the on-the-land program, that we’ve heard over and over. Definitely, this is an area that we continue to monitor, Mr. Speaker. If there are going to be changes required, then we’ll make those changes. But again, it is federal legislation...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Once inmates are in the institution there are various programs that are offered to them, whether it be treatment healing programs, substance abuse, sexual offender relapse, family violence, men who abuse program. There are all these different programs. There is also specific to healing. Those are the areas that the rehabilitation of those inmates that our staff is focused on. But there are certain circumstances where individuals who if they are very high risk then take different programs as well.

Mr. Speaker, we can’t control those individuals that are outside the...

Mahsi. There’s double time, time and a half, time. A lot of times the number of days are waiting for their trial. Those are the discussions that we had at a recent FPT meeting as well, and there’s been a lot of debate on the 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2, two times or double you can call it. So those are discussions that have been brought forward across Canada and we do raise our concerns as well.

There have been several cases, Mr. Speaker, that even young offenders have, like, 40 or 50 different cases before them, but they are free for various reasons under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the acts are...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The repeat offenders that the Member is referring to and also the light sentences, of course, are at the discretion of the judge. The final decision lies with the judge. At the same time, at every federal/provincial/territorial Ministers meeting we deal with various laws that may be before us in dealing with the Justice Minister and also Public Safety Minister, and these are the matters that are always before us. The lighter sentence, there is always a question of why is that and change of the legality, the legal system. Since last year, there have been a lot of changes. We...

Mr. Speaker, I can speak to my department’s subsidy. It is being reviewed on a constant basis and we make changes due to the needs of the communities and also the Northwest Territories. We also work interdepartmentally. The message is clear that the Member is referring to and we will be discussing that through our committees. This will also be brought up with my department, as well, with respect to the subsidy program. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The teacher housing subsidy that the Member is referring to is sunsetting, I believe, this fiscal year. That particular subsidy has been in the works for a number of years. I do believe it’s under the NWT Housing Corporation as well. There was an agreement in place between government and the organization in Tuktoyaktuk. The Member is asking if we would, I guess, reinvest into that particular area. As you can see from other jurisdictions, we have teachers across the Northwest Territories. We do provide funding for their northern allowances. Based on that, they pay for their...

Mahsi. There are certain programs. We’ve initiated some mandatory programs for inmates and also for offenders. There are some other programs that we are seriously looking at as possibly mandatory for court proceedings and we’re working closely with our judges on these particular matters. I will keep the Members posted as we move forward, if we’re going to make some programs mandatory. So we’ll keep the Members posted on that. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Member is referring to offenders either reintegration to the community or rehabilitation. We do have some programs in place, such as a program for men who use violence, protection against family violence and also domestic violence treatment options through court. Those are just some of the areas that we are focusing on as a preventative measure.

Also, we have a staff and programs at the correctional level that work with offenders so they can be rehabilitated and reintegrated back into the community. So we have various programs that suit inmates’ eligibility and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are policies in place for a specific reason. What the Member is referring to, I can touch on. The student case officers need to track all expenditures, our sponsors, our subsidies to the students through the SFA program. Not only that, but there are also First Nations and other organizations that also sponsor students. We just want to be cautious about who is paying for what trips. If the First Nation claim is paying for a particular trip, then we need to be aware of it so there are no duplications. We just want to have accountability in place. That’s part of the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is pleased to share news about its Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. The focus is on increasing the accomplishments of Aboriginal students across the Northwest Territories.

The initiative’s long-term goal is developing and implementing a territorial education plan to help eliminate the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Helping these students achieve success in their studies is one of the ways that the Government of the Northwest Territories is working to fulfill this Assembly’s goal of...