EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
(interpretation ends) To Member of the Legislative Assembly Ms. Angnakak’s question on the loans. An update to the student loans and collections is one of the reasons why the new system was put in place. Not all loans have been collected back in money of the students receive remissible loans.
That means that they find documents that if they return to Nunavut to live and work, a portion of their loan can be forgiven. If they leave Nunavut, the loans have been paid back, this will be captured and tracked and reported in a new system.
The other question was the special professional program under FANS.
Minister, I haven’t asked a question, I was only asking for your closing comments.
It sounds like you’re responding to some members’ earlier questions, so I’m just reminding you to give your closing remarks.
Thank you, members who asked questions, we will provide responses at a later and more proper time.
There are only two questions left to be addressed, so thank you members.
Sergeant-at-Arms, can you escort the witnesses out.
We have completed the review of the Department of Family Services. We will take a five-minute break.
Once we finish our break, we will begin the review of the Department of Justice.
We will now take a five-minute break.
>>Committee recessed at 14:12 and resumed at 14:22
Bill 02 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2014-2015 – Justice – Consideration in Committee
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. We will resume our proceedings as Committee of the Whole. (interpretation ends) A stress test.
I would now like to ask Minister Okalik, do you have officials you would like to have appear before the Committee?
Chairman: Does the Committee of the Whole agree to let the minister and his officials go to the witness table?
Chairman (interpretation): Sergeant-at-Arms, please allow the minister’s staff to go to the witness table.
Thank you. (interpretation ends) For the record, Minister Okalik, please introduce your officials.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon.
The officials I am bringing to the witness table are, to my right is my acting deputy minister, Ms. Rebecca Uqi Williams, and to my left is our comptroller, Rodney Suclan.
You can now begin with your opening comments, Minister Okalik.
I am pleased to appear before the committee to present the Department of Justice’s main estimates for operations and maintenance for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
A total amount of $106 million is being requested for the operations of the Department of Justice in the coming fiscal year.
This is a $2.3 million increase from the previous fiscal year.
This increase is primarily for the addition of 33 new staff, called person years or PYs, composed of 24 correctional case workers for the overcrowding relief structure, the new correctional facility, two cooks for the same facility, four deputy sheriffs to provide improved security to our courts, and three support staff for courts.
The overcrowding relief structure is scheduled to open in the early winter of 2015. As a result, the new correctional staff will begin working halfway through the fiscal year.
The department has requested half a year’s compensation and benefits as a result.
Another component of the increase is an addition to the grants and contribution for the Legal Services Board to reflect the high cost of travel for circuit court and to base a lawyer in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions.
Finally, there is an increase in our contract with the RCMP for property management services for the territory’s detachments. Historically, these costs were covered by Public Safety Canada.
Increasing Inuit language service delivery and employment are priorities of the department, with particular emphasis on legal services and corrections.
This work begins with identifying barriers, planning Inuit professional development, and identifying successful initiatives.
After a great deal of consultation and community engagement, the Community Justice Division will be completing a crime prevention strategy for Nunavut this fiscal year.
This project will identify community safety and crime prevention priorities and will guide our future crime reduction efforts.
The department will also begin the process of developing civil forfeiture legislation for Nunavut. Civil forfeiture has been used in most provinces and may be a useful tool to combat bootlegging and drug trafficking in Nunavut.
Policy work for this legislation is near completion and consultations will begin in the summer.
This work and other objectives set out in the business plan will improve access to justice and public safety for all Nunavummiut.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my opening comments. I would be pleased to answer questions from committee members.
Qujannamiik. Thank you. Merci.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Does the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Wellness have opening comments?
I am pleased to provide opening comments on behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Wellness on its review of the proposed 2014-15 main estimates and 2014-17 business plan of the Department of Justice.
The standing committee notes that the department’s proposed 2014-15 operations and maintenance budget of $106,094 million has increased by approximately 5.6 percent since the introduction of the department’s 2013-14 main estimates.
This is an increase of 32 positions from the 2013-14 main estimates.
This increase is primarily a consequence of the new positions required to operate the Baffin Correctional Centre’s overcrowding relief structure, which is scheduled to open next year.
The standing committee notes that one of the department’s priorities for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years is to bring forward new civil forfeiture legislation, a commitment that was included in the Commissioner’s Opening Address.
The introduction of civil forfeiture legislation was addressed by the Minister’s Task Force to Review the Liquor Act, which recommended the “urgent introduction of strong civil forfeiture legislation as a critical tool to fight the unlawful possession and illegal sale of alcohol, among other objectives.”
These include annual reports under the Family Abuse Intervention Act, the Victims of Crime Act, the Labour Standards Act, and the Human Rights Act.
The department’s proposed 2014-15 main estimates indicate that the amount of annual funding provided to the Legal Services Board will increase from $10,064,000 in 2013-14 to $11,818,000 in 2014-15.
This is an increase of approximately 17 percent.
The standing committee notes the minister’s efforts to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to lobby the federal government to fund a greater proportion of the costs of criminal and civil legal aid and notes the contents of the November14, 2013 communiqué issued by federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of justice concerning this issue.
The department’s 2013-16 business plan indicated that work had been ongoing to “Investigate independent society status for LSB” and to “conduct a comprehensive structural/operational review” of its operations.
The standing committee notes that the department’s proposed 2014-17 business plan indicates that the Legal Services Board’s “status and relationship with the Government of Nunavut will not change” at this time.
The standing committee also notes that the department’s 2013-16 business plan indicated that the Legal Services Board was developing a new Criminal Financial Eligibility Policy and a new Civil Financial Eligibility Policy.
Members urge the minister to formally table in the Legislative Assembly any new policies that have been approved by the Legal Services Board.
Mr. Chairman, the proposed 2014-15 budget for the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal is $812,000.
On June 7, 2012, a report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly titled “Strengthening the Nunavut Human Rights System.”
The department’s 2013-16 business plan indicated that the “Recommendations of the review are being studied at this time.”
The standing committee encourages the minister to table the government’s formal response to the report and recommendations.
The 2012-13 Annual Report of the Human Rights Tribunal, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on March 12, 2014, indicates that “The lack of face-to-face interaction with clients and the tribunal is an added challenge…regardless of where the tribunal office could have been located, this issue would still prevail, given the small population of each of the Nunavut communities.
Aside from Iqaluit, less than 10% of Nunavut’s population would have direct access to the tribunal’s services.”
The 2012-13 Annual Report of the Human Rights Tribunal also indicates that “Currently, the mandate of the Tribunal does not include public education, nor should it.
Public education and outreach is the responsibility of the Nunavut Legal Services Board.”
However, the 2011-12 Annual Report of the Legal Services Board, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 16, 2013, indicates that “Comprehensive public legal education and information initiatives are difficult to sustain when the Legal Services Board’s legal resources are committed to court work and file management.”
The standing committee encourages the minister to work with both the Human Rights Tribunal and the Legal Services Board to resolve this issue.
(interpretation ends) The Department of Justice’s proposed 2014-17 business plan indicates that one of its priorities for the 2014-15 fiscal year is to “Continue to identify ways in which the Tribunal can be more effective in publicizing its presence and purpose across Nunavut to maintain or increase intake.”
The standing committee looks forward to reviewing the government’s progress in achieving this goal.
On March 1, 2013, the 2012-14 Shared Directional Statement between the Department of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s “V” Division was tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
The standing committee notes that the department’s budget for the government’s policing services contract with Public Safety Canada for the provision of RCMP policing services in the territory is increasing from $34,185,000 in 2013-14 to $35,772,000 in 2014-15.
Information provided to the standing committee by the minister indicates that this increase is primarily due to such factors as the government’s obligations with respect to RCMP detachment properties.
Mr. Chairman, members have raised the ongoing issue of communication challenges between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the public that it serves.
Members note that section 3 of the Inuit Language Protection Act provides that organizations shall communicate with the public in the Inuit Language when delivering essential services such as “emergency, rescue or similarly urgent services.”
The standing committee notes that the 2012-14 Shared Directional Statement between the Department of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s “V” Division indicates that the Government of Nunavut and the RCMP “will work to improve the use of Inuktitut within the force, will work to encourage recruitment of Inuit officers, and will make efforts to ensure non-Inuit officers understand, and are sensitive to, Inuit culture and realities.”
The standing committee notes that the November 14, 2013 communiqué issued by federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of justice stated in part that “Territorial Ministers reiterated their desire to have their jurisdictions included in the First Nations Policing Program.
All Ministers agreed to further the discussion and exploration of policing options for First Nations and Inuit communities.”
The standing committee notes that the budget for the Registries and Court Services Division of the department has increased significantly in recent years.
In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the division’s budget was $9,418,000 with a staff complement of 53 positions.
The division’s proposed 2014-15 budget is $11,173,000 with a staff complement of 67 positions.
The standing committee notes that the Senior Judge of Nunavut Court of Justice recently issued a public statement that raised concerns regarding “human and financial resources” within the court system.
The standing committee also notes that the Nunavut Court of Justice has resumed the practice of publishing a comprehensive annual report on court operations.
Mr. Chairman, an ongoing concern has been the issue of probation services in Nunavut.
The Legislative Assembly was informed at its sitting of October 27, 2011 that “there are over 1,000 individuals on probation” in Nunavut.
The department’s proposed 2014-17 business plan indicates that the “full transfer” of community correctional services from the Department of Family Services was completed as of February 1, 2013.
However, the standing committee notes that not all communities have resident probation officers.
The standing committee emphasizes that the development of effective programs for inmates and persons on probation is an essential element of reducing the rate at which reoffending occurs.
Information contained in the government’s response to a written question asked in the Legislative Assembly in February of last year indicates that the rate at which adult male offenders reoffend is approximately 74 percent.
The standing committee notes that two of the department’s priorities for the 2014-15 fiscal year are to conduct a “full evaluation of programs” at the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility and to “Continue developing a plan for a medium to long-term solution to increase capacity for inmates in Nunavut, including planning to repatriate all Nunavut inmates housed outside of Nunavut.”
The Government of Nunavut’s current memorandum of understanding with the Government of the Northwest Territories for the placement of inmates in Northwest Territories correctional facilities expired on March 31, 2014.
The standing committee encourages the minister to provide a formal update to the House on the status of the renewal or extension of this agreement.
The standing committee also notes that the Office of the Auditor General of Canada has indicated that its next report to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut will focus on the territory’s corrections system.
The report is anticipated to be tabled in the House during its spring 2015 sitting.
The Family Abuse Intervention Act came into force on March 1, 2008.
The 2010-11 annual report on the Family Abuse Intervention Act and activities of community justice committees was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on May 16, 2013.
However, the 2011-12 and 2012-13 annual reports have not yet been tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
The department’s proposed 2014-17 business plan indicates the “Justice of the Peace program is making improvements to the Family Abuse Intervention Act by increasing efforts to recruit local Justices of the Peace, streamlining administrative processes and planning expanded Family Abuse Intervention Act-specific training initiatives in more communities.”
The department’s proposed business plan also indicates that one of its priorities for the 2014-15 fiscal year is to “Explore options to improve family mediation services in Nunavut.”
The standing committee looks forward to ongoing updates on the status of this initiative.
The standing committee notes that the department’s proposed 2014-17 business plan indicates that two of its priorities in the 2014-15 fiscal year are to “Assist [Community] Justice Committees to increase their ability to receive more cases diverted from the formal criminal justice system” and to “Develop a crime prevention strategy for Nunavut.”
The 2012-13 annual report under the Victims of Crime Act was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 12, 2013.
The report indicates that approximately $86,000 was provided for community-based projects and activities that provide services and assistance to victims of crime.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening comments on the proposed 2014-15 main estimates and 2014-17 business plan of the Department of Justice. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My colleagues, do you have any general comments on the opening comments?
I have a general comment.
I would like to direct my comment to the minister. I understand that drugs and alcohol are becoming more prevalent in the communities.
Are you going to be working on the problems using the Inuit way of doing things? What are your future plans on this?
Chairman (interpretation): That was understandable.
At the appropriate time, you can ask that question, Mr. Shooyook.
We are on Justice. (interpretation ends) Branch Summary. Directorate. E-4.
I’ve just got a couple of questions.
Mr. Chairman, in November of 2013, there was a news release issued from an FPT meeting that provincial and territorial had requested that the federal minister increase funding for criminal legal aid and also to request funding for civil legal aid.
As the minister will recall, I recently asked him questions regarding civil legal aid and how it can be accessed, one of the things I suggested was, for people who are going through foreclosure processes.
How are negotiations going with the federal government on accessing more civil legal aid service dollars?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Unfortunately, legal aid has not seen an increase from the federal government for quite some time in terms of the level of support.
It started out nicely, but it has tapered off. We’re no different than other jurisdictions.
I had a meeting with the Minister of Justice early on in my mandate and requested that they work on increasing the level of support they provide to us for legal aid.
Hopefully we will see an increase in the future, but it has been a pretty sad state for some time.
I hope that with continued lobbying by me and my colleagues throughout the country, we will eventually see an increase in this area. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I wish the minister all the luck in the world to secure some further funding under that category.
Mr. Chairman, in the Assistant Deputy Attorney General category, it shows the responsibility for the RCMP policing file. In his opening comments, he had mentioned that property management services for the territory’s detachments were historically cost covered by Public Safety Canada and they no longer are covering that.
Did they give the minister any specific reasoning on why those costs are no longer covered by the federal government?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) This is flowing from the new agreement that was signed last year. The federal government issued a new template, pretty much, for all governments to follow in terms of the RCMP.
They have devolved this responsibility to territories and provinces.
We have been given this responsibility and we have to bear those costs that weren’t traditionally part of our costs in the past. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Thank you. (interpretation) Next on my list, Ms. Angnakak.
I just have a couple of questions on E-4.
I see in your business plan, page 33, you talk about victims of crime.
I’m wondering: how many staff do you have to address the needs of victims who have suffered due to crimes committed against them?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) All we do is offer program funding for victims on a proposal basis.
That’s all we do have right now, but at the same time, we also offer travel support for victims when they have to appear before a court.
That’s what this is. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Can the minister please provide us with an example of a victim, what kind of proposal would they write and what kind of service are they asking for?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) We receive different types of proposals from communities and I sign those off each fall.
They have been very successful. We have received very good responses from those who have taken part in these programs. I look forward to more proposals.
We don’t put barriers. We prefer that each person or group has different ways of dealing with their issues and we don’t want to put artificial bars on these proposals. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Can the minister provide us an example of some of these proposals that the government has funded that goes to aid victims of crime?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) We have numerous examples and I will gladly provide them to my colleagues when we have them readily available.
We don’t have them in front of us right now. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We look forward to seeing that information from the Department of Justice.
What budget do you allocate to helping victims of crime in Nunavut aside from the $86,000 that you recently announced?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) I don’t know where the $86,000 comes from at this time. Can the member clarify, please. (interpretation) Thank you.
I guess I’m reading from the 2012-13 annual report under the Victims of Crime Act. The report indicated that approximately $86,000 was provided for community-based projects and activities that provide services and assistance to victims of crime.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) That is based on proposals that were submitted for that year, so that number is more like a floating number at this point.
Each community puts forward their proposal and the amount that they may require for that year and we fund it on that basis. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I’m going to ask kind of the same question.
On top of what you call the floating number or on top of the monies that are set aside for community-based projects and that, how much money in your budget do you set aside for helping victims of crime?
Hon. Paul Okalik: It is a number that is not fixed, as we get some federal money and also get the money through the courts through victim surcharges. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for the answer, minister.
Can you tell me, then, how much money do you put into those who have committed crimes in Nunavut?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) The court determines the amount on each case, so I can’t provide a number on that. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
If I were to take a wild guess, it would probably be all the correctional services and all the other monies that are put for housing inmates.
How do victims of crime access the service that you provide to them? Is it just proposal-based or are there any other ways that they can do this?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) The proposal-based approach has been quite successful and we leave it to each group in the community and let them offer what program they may require.
That has been quite successful to date. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I’m going to go on to something else. Your department’s draft 2014-17 business plan indicates that one of the priorities is to “Continue to identify ways in which the Tribunal can be more effective in publicizing its presence and purpose...” What specific actions are being undertaken to accomplish this goal?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) I look forward to travelling to the office of the Human Rights Tribunal and also meeting with the tribunal itself. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet with them yet, so I look forward to having a good discussion with them. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Thank you. (interpretation) I would like to ask members to indicate which page you are asking your question on.
Just for clarification, then, specific actions in how you’re going to help the tribunal publicize its presence haven’t been actually worked out yet until you meet with the tribunal.
Hon. Paul Okalik: I would like to have some good discussions with the tribunal on how we can provide each other more support on how we can provide better services to Nunavummiut. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.