EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
All those opposed. (interpretation) I’m sorry. (interpretation ends) All those in favour, please stand.
The motion has been passed unanimously.
(interpretation) Going back to the orders of the day.
Item 16. (interpretation ends) First Reading of Bills.
Item 21. (interpretation) Orders of the Day. (interpretation ends) Mr. Clerk.
Mr. Clerk, will you determine if the Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut is prepared to enter the Chamber to give assent to bills.
Deputy Commissioner Kusugak (interpretation): Please be seated.
As the Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut, I am pleased to give assent to Bill 22, Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act, No. 2, 2015-2016.
I hereby prorogue the Second Session of the Legislative Assembly and summon all members to meet in this Chamber at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow for the opening of the third session.
Speaker (interpretation): Orders of the Day. (interpretation ends) Mr. Clerk.
Just a reminder that tomorrow morning at ten o’clock, there’s a meeting of the Full Caucus in the Nanuq Boardroom.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) This House stands adjourned until Tuesday, June 2, at 1:30 p.m.
>>House adjourned at 17:07 Appendix – June 1, 2015
Report on the Review of the Auditor General’s  2015 Report to the Legislative Assembly on
Corrections in Nunavut
Second Session of the Fourth Legislative Assembly of Nunavut
Alex Sammurtok, MLA
Pauloosie Keeyootak, MLA
Nunavut’s current Corrections Act was inherited from the Northwest Territories upon division.
The Corrections Act establishes the Government of Nunavut’s duties and responsibilities related to corrections services within the territory.
Section 2 of the Corrections Act provides the following:
“The purpose of the Corrections Services is the correction and treatment of offenders and the protection of the community by
providing, when requested by a court, information respecting the background of an offender before sentencing;
offering probation and parole supervision and counselling and aftercare services to offenders;
providing for the safe custody and detention of inmates in a correctional centre;
providing supervision, treatment and training of inmates with a view to their rehabilitation; and
promoting and assisting programs designed to prevent and diminish crime within a community.”
In January 2013, the Government of Nunavut and the federal Office of the Correctional Investigator signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the federal office to assist in conducting a review of the Baffin Correctional Centre, to provide strategic advice on the legal and policy framework of the corrections division and to produce a report highlighting the office’s conclusions.
The federal Office of the Correctional Investigator’s 2013 Report on the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Legal and Policy Framework of Nunavut Corrections indicated that the physical infrastructure of Nunavut’s core correctional centre “is not safe for either staff or inmates, and hinders the ability of Nunavut corrections to fulfil its legal mandate of humane custody and rehabilitation.”
In its report, the federal office also indicated that its “review of law and policy also suggests that Nunavut corrections is not operating within a rigorous and modern legal and policy framework.”
On March 10, 2015, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly tabled the Auditor General of Canada’s 2015 Report on Corrections in Nunavut.
Since April 1, 1999, every report of the Auditor General to the Legislative Assembly has been referred to a Standing Committee for consideration.
On March 17, 2015, the Legislative Assembly passed Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act, which included a number of amendments to bring the legislation into alignment with the corrections division’s current operating procedures and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
During the Committee of the Whole’s consideration of Bill 11, the Minister of Justice indicated that his department is “currently completing a more comprehensive review of the Act with the intent of overhauling it in the long term.”
The Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts held its hearings on the Auditor General’s 2015 report from May 5-7, 2015.
These hearings were open to the public and news media to observe and were broadcast on local cable and satellite television.
Witnesses from the Office of the Auditor General and the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Justice appeared before the Standing Committee.
The transcripts from the Standing Committee’s hearings are in the process of being posted to the Legislative Assembly’s website and will be available in both Inuktitut and English.
The objective of the Auditor General’s audit was to determine whether the Department of Justice has met its key responsibilities for inmates within the corrections system.
The Auditor General’s report presented seventeen specific recommendations.
Facility planning
Oversight of facility operations
Vision and operating procedures
Integrating Inuit Societal Values
Inmate case management
Rehabilitative programming
The Standing Committee concurs with the recommendations of the Auditor General and notes that the government itself agreed with all of the Auditor General’s recommendations.
It is important to note that the Standing Committee, pursuant to rule 91(5), requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
Issue: Facility Planning
The lack of physical infrastructure to appropriately house inmates within Nunavut has been an ongoing concern since the territory was created.
Nunavut’s core correctional facility, the Baffin Correctional Centre, was originally built to house minimum-security inmates.
Despite numerous renovations to increase the security level of certain areas within the facility, the Baffin Correctional Centre still does not have the physical infrastructure to securely house maximum-security inmates.
In order to provide offenders from the Kitikmeot region with rehabilitative services closer to home, the department opened the Kugluktuk Ilavut Centre in April of 2005.
The Standing Committee notes that overcrowding at the Baffin Correctional Centre has been a very serious and recurring problem within the facility.
To address the issue of overcrowding at the Baffin Correctional Centre, and to increase its capacity to house inmates within the territory, the department constructed the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility, which opened in January 2013, and the Makigiarvik healing facility, which opened in January 2015.
During the course of the Standing Committee’s hearings, departmental officials provided the following information on the current capacity of each of the territory’s facilities:
“Currently, Makigiarvik is 48 minimum-security beds and only minimum.
The Rankin Inlet Healing Facility has 32 medium-security beds and 16 minimum-security beds.
And, the Baffin Correctional Centre has, what we have listed here, as 42 minimum-security beds, 18 beds we consider to be slightly higher security, so a medium, and the 6 behavioural unit beds.”
In his report, the Auditor General indicates that, “in 2012, the department predicted that Nunavut would need 268 correctional facility beds by 2026.”
The Auditor General also indicates that, at the time of the audit, the Kugluktuk Ilavut Centre, the Uttaqivik Residential Centre and the division’s various outpost camps had the capacity to hold 15, 14 and 8 minimum-security inmates, respectively.
According to this information, the current capacity of Nunavut’s facilities will fail to meet its future correctional needs and will require approximately 70 additional beds by 2026.
In his report, the Auditor General states that his office found that the department “has not been housing inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre according to their security ratings, as required by its own directives,” and that “the centre is a minimum-security facility that cannot properly house inmates with a medium- or maximum-security rating.”
The Standing Committee notes with concern that the territory’s current correctional facilities may not meet the territory’s future correctional capacity needs and emphasizes the importance of comprehensive and strategic planning in this area to ensure that all facilities are properly utilized according to their appropriate capacity and security levels.
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, an official from the department stated that:
“We know that in order to properly house and provide a safe and secure environment for the inmates who have been entrusted to us, we must address the core, critical need for maximum-security beds.
As Mr. Stewart just described, we’re going through the process of the preplanning stage, the design phase, and working up recommendations and options for the decision-makers to make a choice and decision for our correctional facility for maximum-security inmates appropriate for the territory.”
The Standing Committee recognizes that the government may have to invest significant financial resources to ensure that inmates can be safely and securely housed and that the corrections division meets its projected facility needs.
The Standing Committee looks forward to receiving more information on the department’s strategy to address the issue of Nunavut’s correctional facility needs and recognizes that the department will be developing these plans in accordance with the government’s overall capital planning process.
In his report, the Auditor General notes that the Baffin Correctional Centre “has been the subject of studies and reports dating back to 1996, including a report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator” and that these reports “highlighted operational limitations and safety concerns for the centre’s inmates and staff.”
The safety concerns highlighted in these reports included the lack of programming space, holes in the walls, the presence of mould, poor air quality and non-compliance with the National Fire Code.
In November 2014, the Legislative Assembly approved $850,000 in capital funding for the Department of Justice’s “Baffin Correctional Centre Life Safety Renovations” project.
Information provided to Members at that time indicated that this funding includes “costs associated with bringing the facility up to code and does not include the design of including maximum-security beds/cells at this time.”
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members requested an update on how this funding has been allocated.
Departmental officials stated that:
“We did get approved for $850,000 to start up the design work of the BCC life safety renovation.
However, due to those external reports and internal reports that we assessed of the building, the mould situation in the building was too critical to not address immediately.
We utilized our remaining minor capital money in 2014-15.
However, we realized that we were going to need additional funds in 2015-16 to continue and complete the mould remediation.
It was decided that due to the emergency nature of the situation, we would utilize the $850,000 for the design of the lifecycle renovation to address this.”
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members asked questions concerning the presence of mould at the Baffin Correctional Centre and the department’s actions to address the facility’s non-compliance with the National Fire Code.
In response, departmental officials stated that:
“Now, as individual problems have been identified, we have addressed them, fire drills, mould, those various pieces that we’re identifying, and we work with Community and Government Services to address those problems, but they’re repeating problems as opposed to getting at the core issue, which is a facility that’s old, dated, and inappropriate for the housing of inmates.”
The Standing Committee notes with approval that the department has taken actions to ensure that required evacuation drills are performed and contingency plans developed for its correctional facilities.
Issue: Oversight of Facility Operations
As a part of its mandate, the Corrections Service is responsible for the safe and secure housing of inmates.
According to the corrections division’s operating procedures, inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility may be placed in segregated confinement to ensure the safety of inmates and staff.
In his report, the Auditor General indicates that the department is required by its own corrections directives to ensure that all placements of inmates in segregated confinement involve appropriate justification, authorization and regular review.
However, the Auditor General noted that in both the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility, the department did not “adequately monitor whether key requirements for those in segregation were followed.”
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members raised questions related to the corrections division’s lack of documentation and authorization for administrative segregation placements.
In response, departmental officials indicated that the authorizations are being provided in practice, but that the division needs to improve its documentation of segregation placements.
The Standing Committee emphasizes the importance of providing accountability and oversight measures to monitor segregation placements within correctional facilities by ensuring that correctional staff are trained and required to conduct consistent and thorough documentation of all segregation placements within Nunavut’s correctional facilities.
The Standing Committee notes that the presence of contraband within facilities may increase the risk of disruptive and violent behaviour within correctional facilities and can lead to security incidents.
To ensure the safe and secure housing of inmates and to ensure the safety of staff, the department must have the necessary procedures to remove the presence of unauthorized substances or objects within its correctional facilities.
In his report, the Auditor General indicates that the department “did not adequately monitor whether facility management was controlling contraband at the Baffin Correctional Centre.”
According to the division’s own operating procedures, correctional staff are required to conduct and document a search of cells during each shift.
In his report, the Auditor General indicates that searches of cells were conducted irregularly and were not documented.
In his report, the Auditor General states that:
“Although the department had information on the number of contraband-related incidents, it had not analysed related trends, such as the type of contraband, its seriousness, or how it entered the facility.
Without such information, the department was not fully informed about where to try to address the centre’s contraband challenges, or about the full impact of contraband in facilities and on inmates.”
To ensure the safe and secure housing of inmates and staff, the facility management must adequately control contraband within facilities.
In order to adequately control contraband within facilities, the department must identify the underlying sources of incidents related to contraband, the types of contraband and how contraband is entering the facility.
The Standing Committee notes that analyses can only be completed if correctional staff are conducting regular searches of cells and documenting all searches and results.
In turn, the department must implement oversight and accountability measures and train and direct staff accordingly to ensure that this procedural documentation is occurring according to the necessary requirements.
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, departmental officials stated that:
“[W]e are working on an electronic system that will track all the types of contraband.
Through that, we will be able to do better analyses.
Realistically, until we have a building that you cannot penetrate, we are still going to have a problem.
We are keeping track the best we can with this.”
The Standing Committee recognizes that utilizing modern technology will allow for the clear and efficient tracking of information within correctional facilities.
However, the Standing Committee also recognizes that correctional staff must have the ability to begin documenting incidents immediately and quickly in order to meet the demands of a high-pressure environment such as a correctional facility.
For this reason, the Standing Committee emphasises the importance of providing correctional staff with the resources and direction to begin documentation of segregation placements and incidents related to contraband at the earliest opportunity and, if necessary, in writing, until such a time as the electronic tracking system becomes fully operational.
Issue: Vision and Operating Procedures
On January 25, 2013, the Government of Nunavut issued a news release to announce the official opening of the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility.
The release indicated that:
“The facility will offer many opportunities and benefits to inmates, staff and to the community … Inmates will be expected to participate in programs aimed at a rehabilitative objective and focusing on community-based programming such as spousal assault and literacy.”
The Standing Committee notes that the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility was constructed to alleviate the overcrowding at the Baffin Correctional Centre and that its purpose as a minimum-security facility would be to provide rehabilitative programming to inmates within the territory.
In his report to the Legislative Assembly, the Auditor General indicated that the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility did not have its own standing orders when it opened and instead “operated with, and eventually adopted, the standing orders in place at the Baffin Correctional Centre.”
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members raised concerns related to the importance of developing distinct standing orders for the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility.
Witnesses from the Office of the Auditor General stated that:
“[G]iven that the facility was built as a healing facility, we expected it to have its own unique procedures.
Without aspects to how it will operate, it is unclear to us how it will live up to its goal of being a healing facility and differentiate itself from BCC.”
The Standing Committee notes with concern that the department has yet to develop a vision or standing orders specific to the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility.
The Standing Committee recognizes that the department has recently developed an overarching vision for the corrections division, which is to “actively promote safe and healthy communities through fostering responsibility and self-reliance of Nunavummiut in conflict with the law by managing risk in the least restrictive manner.”
However, during the Standing Committee’s hearings, departmental officials made it clear that the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility receives only minimum- and medium-security inmates and may refuse to accept inmates on the basis that their behavior does not align with the facility’s vision as a healing facility, despite not having a vision that is distinct from other facilities in the territory.
The Standing Committee notes with concern that the Auditor General’s report indicated that the average rate of occupancy at the Baffin Correctional Centre during the time of the audit was above that of the facility’s capacity, while the average rate of occupancy at the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility was below that of the facility’s capacity.
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members raised questions concerning the discrepancy in the distribution of inmates across the facilities.
“My colleague has indicated that right now the average is around 42 at Rankin Inlet.
That varies from week to week, as inmates are moved into that facility.
We don’t want to undermine our vision as a low-risk healing facility by moving in individuals that are not appropriate for that facility.”
The Standing Committee emphasizes the importance of developing visions and operating procedures for each of Nunavut’s facilities that will provide clear objectives for the employees and management within each facility.
If the department’s current operations are such that the Rankin Inlet Healing Centre may refuse inmates based on requirements aside from an inmate’s security level, then these requirements should be made clear to correctional staff and should be founded in operating procedures that are specific to that facility.
On May 1, 2015, the Department of Justice issued a Request for Proposals titled Staffing, Overtime and Organizational Review of the Nunavut Corrections Division.
This Request for Proposals indicates that the corrections division is currently facing a number of staffing challenges, including “high rates of turnover.”
The Standing Committee recognizes that although all correctional facilities in Nunavut may share the overarching goals of the corrections division, it is clear that each correctional facility in Nunavut has distinct capacities, security levels, programming and community supports.
It is especially important that management in the corrections division have an established set of goals and objectives in order to provide consistently high levels of service, while struggling with issues such as high rates of staff turnover.
For this reason, the Standing Committee emphasizes the importance of developing distinct visions and specific operating procedures for each facility.
Issue: Inuit Societal Values
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, Members raised a number of concerns related to the corrections division’s initiatives to integrate Inuit Societal Values into its case management process and rehabilitative programming.
In response, departmental officials indicated that the corrections division currently works with elders who provide counselling services to inmates and provides an Inuit Skills Cultural Program, which prepares inmates for participating in the division’s outpost camp program.
In his report, the Auditor General stated that:
“The corrections directives provide some guidance on incorporating cultural aspects into programming, particularly by involving elders and offering programming on the land.
However, the directives contain little guidance on how Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit can be incorporated into other aspects of the corrections system.”
“We want to make sure that the new legal framework will make sense for Nunavut, that it will reflect the Inuit societal values and it will reflect the unique nature of this part of the world to ensure there is a grounding here for our population.”
However, Members did not receive any specific information to demonstrate that the division has practicably integrated Inuit Societal Values into rehabilitative programming, case management and release plans and other aspects of the corrections system.
Issue: Inmate Case Management
The Corrections Service has the responsibility to safely house and provide rehabilitative and treatment services for inmates within the territory.
Rehabilitation and treatment is provided to inmates within a correctional facility through a case management process and by offering rehabilitative programs to inmates.
In his report, the Auditor General notes that:
“The case management process in Nunavut facilities includes specific requirements related to assessment of inmates’ needs and risks, development of case plans for inmates, inmates’ access to rehabilitation programs and mental health services, monitoring of inmates’ progress, and planning for inmates’ release back into the community.”
The Standing Committee notes with concern that the corrections division is failing to provide adequate services related to the assessment of inmates’ needs, the development of case plans, providing consistent and relevant rehabilitative programming, monitoring inmates’ progress against their case plans and preparing release plans to prepare inmates for successful reintegration into the community.
The Standing Committee notes that the corrections division is currently only providing initial assessments of inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre, due to the fact that there are currently no correctional staff members trained to perform these assessments at the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility.