Pangnirtung

Making Connections for Youth

YOUTH INTERVENTION AND DIVERSION OUTREACH

1. Context Global/National

1. Context – Global

Territorial – Nunavut

Local - Pangnirtung

Permanent Settlement Began with the HBC

In the 60s the Inuit Village Began to Grow Rapidly

Modern Pangnirtung

is a Busy Town of 1600 Souls

• Stores

• Health Centre

• Schools

• Arena

• Community Hall

• Businesses

• And centrally located…

the airport…

Within Incredible Natural Surroundings

And Everywhere you Look…

As Pangnirtung has a Median

Age of only 21 years...

Youth Look Back at You!

Youth in Action Slideshow from Julie Alivaktuk

2. Making Connections for Youth

In 2006 the Hamlet of Pangnirtung

was selected as the site for the

Northern Communities Partnership Initiative.

As a result, in 2007, the municipal government,

the Hamlet of Pangnirtung,

initiated Making Connections for Youth.

Introducing “Making Connections”

Successes

• Pangnirtung Youth Council Provides Popular Leadership

• Youth Centre Open, Secure, Staffed and Busy

• Variety of Youth Programs Available for Learning

• Annual Funding from Partnership Sources of Around $500,000

• Youth Capacity Growing Steadily

• Resources for Youth Improving

• Youth Suicides Decreased

• Youth Crime Stats Down

• In November 2010 Canada’s National Crime Prevention Centre

announces Five Year $1.6 million support.

YOUTH INTERVENTION AND DIVERSION OUTREACH

TARGET GROUP: Young people in our community

between the ages of 9 and 23 years of age.

RISK FACTORS:

1) Substance abuse and/or addiction,

2) Problem behaviour in school / poor academic performance,

3) Negative peer association,

4) Lack of parental involvement or supervision and

5) Rundown buildings and neighbourhoods.

YIDO PHILOSOPHY: Intervene with youth who are at low or moderate risk of

coming into police contact and divert then into employment, education

and recreation programs that build positive social connections.

3. Canadian Criminal Justice System

-Pangnirtung Reality-

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

- RCMP -

• Federal Police Force since 1870

with jurisdiction for Nunavut,

• Inuit Perceptions Training

• Three member detachment in

Pangnirtung,

• Active in Community: Aboriginal

Shield Program,

• Poor history of Inuit Recruitment

despite Aboriginal Community

Constable Pilot Program,

• Generally viewed as “Southern

Enforcement of “Southern” laws.

Nunavut Circuit Court • Travels to most communities across Nunavut excepting the very smallest

(those which do not have RCMP detachments) where very little crime is

reported.

• Travels to these communities every 6 weeks to 2 years, depending on the

number of charges coming into court from that community.

• Members of the circuit court include a Judge, clerk, court reporter,

prosecutor and at least one defense attorney. Interpreters are hired in the

communities when possible but travel with the circuit court when necessary.

• Court is held in community halls, school gyms, and in other conference

facilities as available. All court proceedings in the communities are

interpreted for the public. Elders and Justices of the Peace (JPs) sit with the

Judge in the courtroom and are given the opportunity to speak with the

accused following sentencing submissions and prior to the passing of

sentence.

Corrective Measures

Judges may impose many different kinds of sentences or a combination of

such penalties as:

• fine

• restitution (an order requiring the offender to compensate for injuries or to

pay compensation for loss of or damage to property),

• probation (release of offender on conditions),

• community service (an order that the offender perform a certain number of

hours of volunteer work in the community), or

• imprisonment (confinement in a prison or penitentiary).

An offender who is sentenced to more than two years will be sent to a federal

penitentiary; one who is sentenced to two years or less will go to a

provincial prison.

Prisons

The Baffin Regional Correctional Centre (BRCC) in the capital Iqaluit, is

Nunavut’s biggest territorial jail.

• At one point in 2011, the inmate population stood at 102 in a building now

designed to hold less than two-thirds that number, and originally built to

house only 48 people.

• The badly overcrowded state means few essential programs, dangerously

poor hygiene and the ever-present threat of violence.

• New legislation from the federal government has introduced mandatory

minimum sentences for some drug-related offences, and eliminated the two-

for-one credit for remanded time that was once unofficial standard in court.

Prisoners will now serve longer sentences, worsening the facility’s already

desperate overcrowding.

4. Inuit-Led Community Justice

Kanguit Justice Committee

• Committee of local residents led

by Elders

• Takes referrals from RCMP,

school, youth centre and others

• Operates summer and winter land

programs for youth

• Works with outpost camps when

possible

Pangnirtung Hamlet Youth Council

Provides YIDO policy,

direction and support:

• Enforces YC rules

• Promotes safety through local

radio

• Role models

• Direct conduit to elected municipal

government (Hamlet)

5. Examples:

Peer Helper Program

The Peer Helper Program encourages students to help each other with their

personal growth. Danny Ishulutak and Julie Alivaktuk motivate youth to

learn respect, and gain leadership skills and self-awareness.

• Elementary School Topics include: bullying, basic first-aid, life and coping skills,

preparation for teen hood, healthy lifestyles, introducing role models and other suggested by the students.

• Junior High: Topics: Smoking, how to stay away and quit. Healthy living: eating, staying active without having drugs or alcohol, and improving their minds. Homework habits and the value of their education in both traditional culture and western style learning.

• -Senior High: Staying away from smoking cigarettes, drugs, and drinking alcohol

were important topics. Also information on post-secondary options plus how to manage homework and studying. First-aid, ASIST, anti-violence.

• Embrace Life Week: March 12 - 16.

Summer Youth Justice Camp

In the summer of 2010, Making

Connections and the Pangnirtung

Interagency, held the first Youth Justice

Camp for five days at the Sannirut

retreat, one hour by boat outside of

Pangnirtung. The 2012 Camp will centre

on traditional skills and will include the

wisdom of elders; however they will also

include RCMP offices and other justice

workers giving youth a chance to meet

these workers as concerned and caring

individuals. Built into the Camp will be a

chance to explore contemporary topics

such as substance abuse. Traditional

and Western Counseling will be

provided aimed at healing personal and

community relationships. This Camp

will be at least two weeks in length.

6. Conclusion:

A Few Simple Lessons Learned

Crime Prevention in Pangnirtung works best when fully

integrated into community life. To succeed it will

challenge many in the community because:

• Youth-led activity requires older leaders give up real power,

• Inuit-led requires “Southern” institutions to be flexible,

• Hiring young workers means incorporating training as a constant and

assigning appropriate funding and time to support that training,

• Giving “youth-at-risk” real resources and leadership roles requires trust and

good risk management,

• Learning from mistakes means making mistakes

and

• There is no “9 to 5” in this work.

Youth Docket Figures for Pangnirtung Analysis of the Youth docket shows a wide variety of offences ranging from ’break and enter’ to crimes

of violence. These offences are compounded by many of these youth worsening their situation by their

failure to appear in court and breach of their recognizance. Using this information we have been able

to create a simple report based on figures from Youth Court Docket from the past 5 years. This shows

a sizable drop in youth cases. There is a spike in 2010 that would require greater analysis to explain

but the return in 2011 to the initial decreasing trend is reassuring. The drop to only 12 cases in 2011

should be further explained. In this year there were no new youth cases in court in the August court

sitting. It should also be noted that in the past two years there are no new names on the young

offenders list. This is a first for Pangnirtung in many, many years.

And speaking of 9 to 5…

Thank You for Your Attention!

PHOTO CREDITS:

Tina Mary Kunilusie, Eric Lawlor,,

Jacqueline Qaqasiq, Danny O’Dell,

David Kilabuk, Julie Alivaktuk

Sanarut Photo Workshop,

Old Photos from Community,

Angmarlik Centre & Mike Davies.

CONTACT:

Making Connections for Youth

Box 253, Pangnirtung, NU

X0A 0R0

connections@qiniq.com

867-473-8447