N.W.T. plans to revive wilderness camps for jail inmates

The Northwest Territories government says it hopes this year to revive a program allowing low-risk, adult inmates from correctional centres in Hay River and Yellowknife to spend time at wilderness camps.

The camps, according to the Department of Justice, help inmates re-enter society and, according to Justice Minister David Ramsay, are frequently praised by communities visited by the department.  

"We've had a number of proponents from around the territory that have expressed interest," Ramsay told the legislative assembly last week.

That includes five potential camp providers from the Sahtu region, he said.

"We hope to sit down with these folks as soon as we can, sometime this month, in an effort to get the program up and running somewhere in the Northwest Territories this calendar year."

According to the department, when it comes to the program mentioned by Ramsay, "Each inmate that attends has to be able to qualify for an Unescorted Temporary Absence from the facility. There are no corrections officers that attend at this particular program."

Other wilderness programs are currently open to inmates at the North Slave Young Offender Facility in Yellowknife and the Fort Smith Correctional Complex.

According to the department, Fort Smith inmates spent a night at a camp near some traps approximately two months ago, with staff. Corrections staff and inmates are also planning a future week-long trip there, overnights included.

Young offenders in Yellowknife who take part in a trapper training program co-delivered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources sometimes stay overnight at a camp at Bliss Lake, northeast of Yellowknife, with staff.    

Cost of camps 

Daryl Dolynny, the MLA who represents Yellowknife's Range Lake constituency, is supportive of the program but raised some concerns.

He questioned whether the Department of Justice has set proper guidelines for camp operators contracted by the government. 

"It is well documented that the proponents who have offered wilderness programs in the past had serious issues with liability," he said. 

"Liability in terms of safety of the inmates, safety of the providers and safety of the public."

Dolynny also raised the high cost of running such camps. Costs have ranged from $500 per inmate, per day, to $1,500 per inmate, per day, according to numbers Dolynny says were provided to him by the department.