Public safety on the agenda as territorial justice ministers meet in Whitehorse

Nunavut’s justice minister Dan Shewchuk visited the Whitehorse Correctional Centre during a Sept. 18 territorial justice ministers meeting. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF YUKON)

Territorial justice ministers Daniel Shewchuk of Nunavut, Mike Nixon of Yukon and Glen Abernethy of Northwest Territories met Sept. 18 in Whitehorse to discuss justice and public safety issues of concern to the North, a Yukon Government news release said.

The news release said that in preparation for the upcoming federal, provincial, territorial justice ministers meeting, the territorial ministers discussed mutual concerns, such as the high cost of administering justice in the North, the need for more legal aid funding, and the effect that federal changes to the Criminal Code will have on aboriginal and northern communities.

The ministers also took the opportunity to tour the new Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

“I was very impressed with Yukon’s new correctional centre. The state of the art design and direct supervision model at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre is something Nunavut has tried to reproduce in our new facility in Rankin Inlet,” Shewchuk said. “Yukon’s experience and knowledge will continue to be a valuable resource when the Rankin facility opens.”

Following the meeting, the three ministers planned to attend the Symposium on Policing in Northern and Remote Canada in Whitehorse on Sept. 19 and 20.