Did you know that in 2023, the NWT鈥檚 crime rate was almost 10 times higher than the average rate in Canada?
That鈥檚 right, and 39 per cent are violent crimes. And get this, the largest contributor to the 39 per cent is drug trafficking (黑料吃瓜网, 'NWT posts worst crime severity index in Canada.')
And did you know that the territorial government does not keep track of recidivism, which is how often people commit another crime after being released from jail?
You would think that keeping track of stuff like this would be priority number one as people are getting concerned about their safety, as described below under the heading 鈥淵outh and chiefs worried about reoffenders.鈥�
Ngan Trinh, communications advisor for the NWT Department of Justice, said the GNWT won't track recidivism for reasons including governments not being able to settle on a definition (黑料吃瓜网 Media, 'GNWT not tracking number of repeat offenders').
To boot, she says the software that corrections facilities use does not have the capacity to track the offenders properly. But guess what? It鈥檚 not only the NWT. Apparently, the entire country lacks proper information on repeat offenders.
And rates vary across Canada, because the federal and territorial/provincial governments haven鈥檛 agreed on a definition, so some places base recidivism on being arrested again and others base it on getting convicted again.
Another thing is that responsibilities are sometimes split between governments. For instance, the federal government prosecutes some offences, while provinces and territories prosecute other offences in addition to running the court system and collecting data.
Also, NWT jails are run by the territorial government, but policing is done by the RCMP, which is a federal agency.
Michael Spratt, a lawyer who does circuit court work in the NWT, says it鈥檚 important to have good information on recidivism because the information can help keep communities safe. Yet, there is very little information about people who commit crimes after getting out of jail or who are out on bail. So, nobody knows if people are committing new crimes or why.
Addressing the effects of trauma
However, help may be on the way. Yahoo!
Premier R.J. Simpson wants to make it safer in our communities.
Simpson told 黑料吃瓜网, "I'm in support of reforming our bail system so that we can have the ability to hold offenders who too often we see come out and reoffend very quickly. I want to make it easier for the courts and the police to protect citizens from individuals who might do them harm."
Yay, Premier Simpson!
However, the premier made it clear that just throwing people in jail is not enough. He added that, "We have to address the effects of trauma if we're going to have any impact on the judicial system."
One of the first things Simpson鈥檚 government did after it was elected was to agree on four priorities, and one of them was 鈥淩ecognizing and addressing the impacts of trauma on individuals and communities.鈥�
MLAs have since added two more priorities.
We鈥檙e certainly ready to help the GNWT with trauma, as we are working on opening the Endacho Healing Lodge, which will be a centre whose sole goal will be to address the effects of trauma.
We have received a $7-million grant from the federal government to help us build a new facility. Woohoo!
Unfortunately, it鈥檚 not enough and we are working hard to get the rest of the money required to build the lodge.
To be clear, the lodge will not treat addictions, as people will have to be sober for 35 days before entering the facility. The centre will have 24 beds and will run eight-week programs.
For now, the program will be for adults only, and men and women will be able to attend at the same time. In the future, we intend to expand it to include programs exclusively for youth, for Elders, and for only women and only men.
We are currently running a four-week trauma healing program in partnership with Yellowknives Dene First Nation. It is a condensed version of the eight-week program, and we are delivering it on Mackenzie Island.
Our participants fondly call it Wellness Island, but I don鈥檛 think the GNWT will change the name soon. Eschia (take it easy, eh)!
Youth and chiefs worried about reoffenders
And the chiefs are also ready to help. They recently held a meeting to discuss improving public safety and crime prevention. The leadership passed a motion to create a Task Force on Drugs, Alcohol and Community Crime Prevention.
The RCMP made a presentation and the leaders' comments showed they agreed with the RCMP superintendent when he said it is a problem when arrested people are quickly released on bail without proper conditions. He said traffickers should receive a jail sentence that reflects the harm they are causing to people.
The meeting was called because of the dramatic rise in alcohol and drug abuse, and drug dealers bringing drugs into small communities. Leaders have seen people's lives be destroyed by addictions, and drug-related violence is spreading across the NWT. This has ended up with people being threatened, hurt or killed.
The NWT Youth Parliament also showed that they want action with sentencing and bail when, just prior to the Dene Nation meeting, they passed a motion to change the Criminal Code to give longer sentences to drug traffickers.
So, the chiefs, the youth and we are ready to help the GNWT. Perhaps the GNWT should lead the charge to start cracking down on repeat offenders for our safety. What do you think?
