Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statement, my questions will be directed to the Minister of Justice.
We have a lot of offenders who continuously go into the correctional institution without being rehabilitated, and once released they don't have the tools to deal with their trauma that keeps them going in and out of these correctional institutions. So what steps is the government taking to expand access to restorative justice programs so that more Indigenous offenders can be diverted from costly incarcerations through community-based and on-the-land healing programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly community justice and restorative justice is one of the priorities of this government and of this Assembly. And, you know, we're very engaged on the fact that Indigenous people are more over-represented in the justice system across the NWT. So currently as of April 2026, we have six multi-year agreements and 13 single-year agreements in the community justice file across the NWT. This is one of the ways that we're certainly working with communities in addressing this challenge.
We also have a large number of programs available across the NWT. So I will focus on one, but there are many. There's community -- there's the wellness court. There's intimate partner violence treatment option. There's justice navigators. But I will focus on the men's healing fund which is one of the programs that is highlighted here.
Currently, there are six communities that are participating in that fund, and two of those communities, Aklavik and Fort McPherson, are from the Member's riding. So we're very happy to report on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's, on the average, costing about $600 to house an inmate per day. And with the money going to the community programs for the -- it's less than what it costs to house an inmate in the correctional institution. How does the government justify that continued reliance on correctional facilities at the cost of over $600 per day per inmate when evidence shows restorative justice programs can be effective in reducing re-offending and supporting rehabilitation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it just so happens I was looking at the rate or the total count of inmates in the North Slave Correctional Centre this morning, and currently there are 12 incarcerated people that are actually serving time in the North Slave Correctional Centre. There were two federal inmates and the remainder, which was 130-some, were remands. So there's a small number of inmates that are actually serving time in the Northwest Territories.
We have a tremendous investment in many of the community programs besides what we invest in the rehabilitation side. So there's $2.3 million that's in community justice committees. There's $800,000 in the justice navigator pilot program. We have a special funding project fund also that can be accessed by communities if they want to do some work in that direction of creating a special project within their community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These community-based programs are not funded enough to take on the responsibility of restorative justice in terms of going out on the land. It's where the healing is. And, you know, what measures are in place to ensure that first-time and nonviolent offenders are consistently assessed and directed toward restorative justice options within their home community or out on the land? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, through the community justice program there are outreach workers that assist community members in accessing these programs. The idea is to have, you know, early offenders be able to access this resource and participate. And we're certainly happy to share information with the Member about the many programs that are available across the NWT in the process in order to access those resources for his communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
