Not one member of the public showed up for Nunavut's Corrections Act consultation

Mark Witzaney would have loved to talk to Iqaluit residents Tuesday night about how the territoryplans to change its antiquated Corrections Act, how Nunavut'sjustice department wants to incorporate Inuit societal values into rehabilitating inmates, and bring in more independent oversight to corrections.

• Inmates, public get a say on new made-in-Nunavut Corrections Act

Instead, hespoke to a roomfulof empty chairs, a handful of his justicedepartmentcoworkers anda couple members of the media.

No one from the public attended.

"I would have liked to see more people,"Witzaney, asenior policy analyst with the territory's justice departmentsaid at the Anglican Parish Hall, the site of Tuesday night's public consultation.

The territory is in the process of revamping its Corrections Act, a document inherited from the Northwest Territories that was createdabout adecadebefore Nunavut became a territory.

The department hopes to have the new act put together before the next territorial election in October2017.

No translations required

The act governs day-to-day life for inmates serving sentences and those in jail on remand awaiting trial.

The justice department has spoken to staff at the infamous Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqlauit and plans to speak with inmates.

But Tuesday's public consultation was a chance for input from residents.

"I know a lot of people have their own thoughts," saidLazarus Arreak, who was hired for Inuktitut translations that were never required."They didn't show up tonight."

Arreak took the opportunity to weigh in on what he thinks isone of the biggest issues in corrections within Nunavut, a territory with one of the highest incarceration rates in the country.

"People have been saying that a lot of these people that are in the system right now really do have mental issues," he said.

"It is a disease. It's a sickness that the territory, in my books, has failed to address effectively."

Serving sentences on the land

Witzaneysaid much of the amended actwill look to recognize and legislate work that's alreadybeing done.

For instance, some low-risk inmates spend part of their sentence in one of three outpost cabins in the territory, one in Kimmirut and two in Baker Lake.

The outposts are a place where inmates learn life skills out on the land and are organized independently by community members.

Another change will look at adding anindependent level of oversight to corrections, and setting upan external disciplinary board to reprimand inmates who act out in jail.

Currently, that work is handled at the Baffin Correctional Centreby a three-person committee designated by the warden.

The plan is to move to a more independent approach, though no details were provided on what that could entail.

There are three more public consultations scheduled in Nunavut, andWitzaney hopes residents will come out.

"We'd love to talk to you about the Corrections Act," he said.

Future public consultations

• Sept. 11 -Rankin Inlet (community hall, 7 p.m.)
• Sept. 15 - Cambridge Bay (Elder`s Palace, 7 p.m.)
• Sept. 18 - Kugluktuk (community hall, 7 p.m.)