The following is an edited exchange taken from Hansard on Tuesday. In the legislative assembly, Hay River North MLA R.J. Simpson questioned Justice Minister Louis Sebert on gangs in correctional centres in the NWT.
SIMPSON: If you pay attention to the news, it seems like major drug busts have become common place in the NWT.
Despite the hard work of the RCMP, the market here is so robust that there appears to be no shortage of money to be
made. In addition to the social problems that the drug trade brings, it also brings a lot of southerners, many of whom have ties to gangs and organized crime. What happens to these people? When they are arrested, they are put into the North Slave Correctional Complex in remand along with the general population. What I am concerned about is because what's happening is we are putting a lot of our young troubled youth. If you are in your 20s, you are still a youth. You are putting them in a remand unit with hard criminals and gang members, and correctional centres are proven to be excellent recruiting ground for gangs. A lot of these southerners bring the mentality, a level of violence that isn't traditionally seen in northern correctional centres. I would like to ask the minister, because this is a relatively new problem compared to other places, it is not out of control yet. Does the Department of Justice have any sort of policy in place to deal with the influx of gangs into the correctional system in the Northwest Territories?
SEBERT: I can advise that Corrections is aware of this problem which the member opposite has alluded to. I can advise that gang awareness is covered for new recruits in the Corrections training program, so staff are aware of the problem involving gangs; they are able to identify and deal, hopefully, with those issues. Thank you.
SIMPSON: Maybe I will look for some more details in a minute, but I'd like to know: does the department do anything to basically get the gang members out of the territory? Maybe send them back to their home jurisdiction, or to a correctional facility that might be better able to handle them?
SEBERT: I can advise that those on remand, which would cover many of the gang members who are in the facility, people on remand are held in the jurisdiction in which the offence has occurred. Now, once they're sentenced, particularly if they are sentenced to a federal term of incarceration, they are generally sent south, but we can't do that with remands.
SIMPSON: I read the news. I see a lot of these people who are arrested from the south. They are on probation. They have other charges. If they are importing pounds of cocaine and firearms, they are looking at significant time. What they do is they try and do as much time as they can at North Slave because it's easier time than doing it at Bowden (medium security institution in Alberta) or something. What has the department done to look into sending them back? I know he says we can't send them out of the jurisdiction, but have they tried? Have they tried anything?
SEBERT: As I mentioned previously, those alleged gang members really fall into two categories. Those who are on
remand, we don't have the ability to send them back to the jurisdictions from which they came. Also, too, that would be difficult financially. For example, they might have many court appearances, and if they were sent back, say, to Ontario, then we would have to bring them back at our cost each time they appeared in court. However, once they
are sentenced ... often they do receive lengthy sentences. Many of these gang members are charged with narcotics offences, and sentences have been increasing in that area. Once they receive a sentence, if it is a federal offence, that is, two years or more, my understanding is most of them are sent back to penitentiaries in the south.
SIMPSON: I guess when they are identified as having gang affiliation in remand, are they separated from the general population, or are they left with people who are in there, maybe just because they have addiction issues?
SEBERT: The staff manage the inmate population based on risks, security, and safety to inmates. In some cases when inmates, gang members or otherwise, become dangerous, have a security concern, or are dangerous to other inmates, they can be housed outside the general population in the same facility.
SIMPSON: I am interested in this topic because I think we are at a point where we can stop this from getting worse like we have seen elsewhere. I would ask the minister: would he be able to share the department's policy with me so I can have a look at what they are doing to deal with this gang issue? Thank you.
SEBERT: I will speak with Corrections, and if there is a written policy regarding gang awareness, I will ask them whether they will be prepared to share that with the member opposite.
Thank you.