Northern Directions:
A Policy Vision for Justice in the North - A Justice Canada Discussion Paper

March 2006

Priority Objectives

Given the Department’s commitment to significantly improve the effectiveness of the delivery of the northern mandate, and to build safer and healthier northern communities, the following ten objectives have been identified to enable the Department to realize its vision.

• Continue to make the justice system more responsive to the needs of crime victims.
• Reduce levels of overrepresentation of Aboriginal northerners in the justice system.
• Develop culturally appropriate models of community justice alternatives to mainstream criminal justice and reduce recidivism.
• Increase the involvement of Aboriginal northerners in the justice system as lawyers, police officers, judges, justices of the peace, probation officers etc.
• Develop ways to identify the best possible outcomes for northern clients, and manage legal risk to government departments.
• Encourage greater awareness and use of northern Aboriginal traditions and approaches to law and the resolution of disputes in the mainstream justice system.
• Develop effective ways to address all forms of violence experienced by northern women and children.
• Support effective federal and territorial crime prevention programs.
• Increase the capacity of the Northern Region to play a fully integrated role in all aspects of the Department’s work.
• Increase the capacity of the Department to recruit and retain northern staff and in particular to reach diversity hiring goals.

Questions for Discussion:

• Are these the right objectives for the work of Justice Canada in the North?
• Should other objectives be given priority?
• What should be the priorities and objectives for the Federal Prosecution Service (FPS) in the territories?
• What should the FPS do to establish good relationships with the people and communities, and to make the prosecution system more responsive to the needs of northerners?
• Are there activities that the prosecution service should carry out that it does not currently perform?

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