There’s a hole in the justice system

You can’t fault Iqaluit City Council for taking a close look at the way their municipality hands out bingo licences. It’s something they should have done a long time ago.

Bingos are a form of legalized gambling. There is no “right” to conduct a bingo whenever you feel like it. It’s a licenced privilege. Given the large amounts of money that bingos suck from the pockets of ordinary people, some of whom are addicted to gambling, it would be irresponsible for governments not to control who gets a bingo licence and who doesn’t.

In Nunavut, the issuance of bingo licences is a responsibility of the Government of Nunavut. In an arrangement inherited from the Northwest Territories, the GN gets municipalities to do this work for them.

As the municipality of Iqaluit discovered recently, this is no simple task. They’ve found themselves struggling to apply territorial law, and their own bylaws, with no apparent legal guidance from the Government of Nunavut, and no clear idea of what’s allowed and what isn’t.

And as the municipality has gone forward with this necessary task, the Nunavut branch of the John Howard Society — which provides services to people from many Nunavut communities — now finds that its biggest source of revenue is threatened. As most readers will have heard by now, their lucrative Saturday night TV bingos now operate under an interim two-month licence, the second such two-month permit they’ve been issued since the fall. Meanwhile, city councillors will likely use that time to decide whether the John Howard group’s bingos should continue to operate in the long term.

Despite the city’s good intentions, this has thrust both sides into an absurd situation.

The city council of Iqaluit now finds itself in a position where, effectively, it must decide the fate of an organization whose work extends far beyond the boundaries of Iqaluit.

That work includes the shipment of country food to Inuit inmates in southern penitentiaries, the use of video to help southern inmates communicate with family in Nunavut, and other forms of support for Inuit prisoners. Iqaluit residents, unfortunately, don’t get to see most of that work, which benefits people from many Nunavut communities.

Similar work is done by the numerous branches of the John Howard Society operating in every other province and territory of Canada. It’s a highly respected prisoner’s welfare organization that has existed in Canada and other Commonwealth countries for more than 100 years. (It’s named after a man called John Howard, who advocated for better treatment of prisoners in 18th century England.)

But there’s one big difference. John Howard Society branches in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Fredericton don’t have to run weekly bingos to pay for their operations. In other parts of the country, John Howard Society branches get their money from federal, provincial and municipal governments. And they run numerous programs, under contract, on behalf of social service and correctional agencies.

They’re also recognized as a legitimate charitable organization just about everywhere. In most places, they get their charitable donations through the United Way, which is a kind of co-op that solicits money on behalf of numerous member organizations.

The municipality of Iqaluit has questioned whether the John Howard Society is a “charity.” But that’s a question that’s already been answered everywhere in Canada — it’s a charity.

But unlike other Iqaluit organizations that are funded by bingos, the John Howard group pays out a lot of its revenues in salaries, because they say they need full-time employees to carry out some of their programs, such as judo instruction for children. This, apparently, has raised questions in the minds of some city officials about whether the bingo money is being spent on legitimate purposes.

That’s understandable — Iqaluit has never seen an organization like the John Howard Society before. But the resulting dispute has led to a variety of nasty rumours and allegations on both sides, and much unnecessary bitterness.

At the same time, the real issue is getting lost: Nunavut’s underfunded and badly ignored correctional system. Those bingos exist because of a gaping hole in Nunavut’s justice system. If Nunavut’s correctional system was funded properly, and if more Nunavut residents bothered to care about it, the John Howard Society wouldn’t have to rely on bingos.

So before making a decision on the long-term fate of the John Howard Society’s bingo licences, the city of Iqaluit should first assess what would be lost if those licences were denied. To that end, they should seek advice from appropriate officials at Corrections Canada, the GN’s Department of Justice, Pauktuutit, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and other organizations involved in the welfare of Nunavut prison inmates.

Whatever decision they make, it will have long-term consequence, for which a municipal government should not have to be responsible. But given the state of Nunavut’s screwed-up justice system, it’s a decision they’ll have to make. Let it be an informed decision. JB