N.W.T. wellness court aims to help man end 30-year criminal record

Eric Wardell estimates he's been in jail 30 to 40 times.

The 48-year-old Mé​tis man's criminal record began at age 16 and includes more than 50 convictions — mostly break and enters and property crimes.

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They range from shoplifting food to stealing $10,000 in equipment and cash from Yellowknife's hospital. Wardell even stole from the Roman Catholic Diocese in Yellowknife.

"I know I caused hundreds and hundreds of people a lot of despair."

Addictions, homelessness and uncontrollable impulses were all factors, he admits. Now he's ready for change.

"I'm going to turn my life around," says Wardell.

"I always believed, 'Hey, you can do this.'"

Harder than jail

Wardell is one of 17 people in Yellowknife trying to put the brakes on the revolving door of crime by enrolling in the territory's wellness court established in October 2014.

An alternative to jail, the court offers healing and counselling options to repeat offenders who struggle with addictions and mental and cognitive issues.

"Ultimately we're looking at reducing recidivism as the goal," says Darin Strain, the manager of specialized courts for the Department of Justice.

Offenders must make regular court appearances — every two weeks to start, with the frequency decreasing toward the end of the program that can last one or two years.

The heart of the program is the wellness plan developed by the offender and their case manager, which aims to tackle root causes of criminal behaviour.

At the end, the participant appears before the court for sentencing, which takes into account their progress.

Strain attends every sitting.

"It's probably easier to do 30 to 60 days in a facility with a controlled environment," he says.

"To be in a program for a year in the community making real changes you can see in your daily life is much more difficult."

So far, Strain says, the three people who have completed the program haven't re-offended, though he says it's too early to say how well the program works overall. Success, he says, can be measured in different ways.

"For example, someone could have been sober for six months but not completed the program. For that individual that's a big success."

Same scene, different tone

The court convenes every second Thursday in a regular courtroom in downtown Yellowknife.

While the scene is the same, the tone is different.

Today eight offenders are scheduled to appear. Four are in custody for various reasons; the rest sit in the public gallery, including Wardell, who wears a ball cap and leather jacket.

He's six months into the program. His defence counsel, Charles Davison, begins with a rundown of his progress over the last two weeks: where he's living (the Bailey House transition home), working (Boston Pizza), and noting he took "a break" in counselling, though he's caught up now.

Wardell is also keeping up with his AA meetings each week.

"Things are on track," Davison says.

The Crown agrees. Before they schedule his next court appearance, visiting Deputy Judge B.A. Bruser speaks directly to Wardell.

"Your hard work is paying off. Keep up the good work."

Wardell nods and quietly thanks the judge before ducking out of the courtroom.

Yukon as a model

The court is modelled after Yukon's wellness court, which opened in 2007.

A 2014 evaluation of that program found that offenders in the court were less likely to reoffend.

Data in the N.W.T. shows there is a need for the program.

• Between 2007 and 2012, 37 per cent of male and 27 per cent of female offenders returned to custody at least once.
• 85 per cent of sentenced offenders in the N.W.T. said factors such as drugs or alcohol caused or likely promoted their criminal behaviour.
• At one point 18 per cent of sentenced offenders at the North Slave Correctional Centre had a previously diagnosed mental illness.

Part of being in wellness court is living a regular life. For Eric Wardell, that means paying rent and holding down a job.

The big difference is that he has a team of people supporting him.

"People around you that keep you going."

Wardell admits the temptation to steal or get a quick buck still lingers in the back of his mind.

"There are days when I wake up and I feel like I have to do a B and E, I don't have money. To me that's OK. It will always be there but less and less.

"It's [now] a feeling of 'Why do that? You don't have to do that. It comes [down] to choice. Like losing weight. You don't have to eat that piece of cake. You have choices."