Sask. Justice reaching out to Aboriginal community

Page 3

Saskatchewan Justice is working to improve its relationship with the province's Aboriginal people, according to Maxine Hodgson.

Hodgson is director of the Aboriginal and Northern Justice Initiatives branch of Saskatchewan Justice, a new branch of the department established last fall.

"The branch," Hodgson explained, "has a special role. It's a policy role, but also very much a support role to senior management in the department. And we're really to help the department look for ways to change the system, not only in terms of programs, but in establishing relationships with communities, working with Elders and so on.

"It's to look at ways to make the systems more legitimate in the eyes of First Nations and Metis people. And it's to look for ways to build relations between First Nations and non-Aboriginal people in the province."

One of the more concrete examples of Justice's efforts to work with First Nations is the new provincial courthouse in Prince Albert.

The courthouse was designed after consultations with all major stakeholders, including the Prince Albert Grand Council, and the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan.

The courthouse, which had its official opening Sept. 27, is the first in the province to have a circle room. The room, Hodgson explained, could be used for sentencing circles, for healing circles that are directly connected to a particular case, or family group conferencing with young offenders.

The concept of having a circle room is "in context with Aboriginal peoples' concept of making a circle whole or mending a circle," said Hodgson, herself a First Nations member.

The circle room in unique to the new Prince Albert courthouse, but only because it's the first provincial courthouse built "in a long, long, time," Hodgson said.

"But from my experience, and with my work with the department, it's pretty clear that the department is aware that it needs to - in terms of changing to be more accessible by Aboriginal people and more user friendly by Aboriginal people - that the system has to not only look at programs, but it has to look at how it's structured in terms of facilities and so on. So I imagine that we will always in the future, consider these kinds of things."

In addition to the circle room, the new courthouse has five courtrooms, the largest of which is equipped for video conferencing, which will allow future hearings to be held off-site in remote locations.

The courthouse also has private access to the courtrooms for victims of crime, and private meeting rooms for victims, family, counsel, and Aboriginal court workers.