RCMP: New North District Commander is appointed A3 Friday, April 6, 2012 Kovacic brings dark history to life A11
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Carrier Sekani pans changes Ministry alters plans for facility in P.G. but inmates still going to Burnaby DELYNDA PILON newsroom@pgfreepress.com
Though some adjustments have been made surrounding the care of young female offenders from the north, the Ministry of Children and Families will proceed with its plan to centralize services in Burnaby, a decision that is not supported by Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS). “They have been up front by saying they are interested in saving money,” Preston Guno, a program manager for CSFS, said. “There’s no consideration for the cultural aspect of these young ladies. The government is in a dire financial situation and they need to make cuts. Unfortunately they are willing to do it on the backs of Aboriginal girls in custody.” Guno questioned how much of the savings, a reported $2.5 million annually, will actually be realized by the change. He said there will be the added cost to transport youth from all parts of the North to Burnaby as well as a cost to ensure family members can visit their children. CSFS is concerned about the solution presented by the ministry, video-conference visits. “Video conferencing isn’t even appropriate,” he said. In response to information from the ministry stating that only about a quarter of the girls in custody are visited, Guno, who was previously a youth advocate, said the problem lies within the youth custody centres and added the onus in on them to ensure the facilities are welcoming to Aboriginal families. “Custody centres have a difficult time engaging families to come to centres because it’s not a welcoming environment. Now parents
have to appear on a video camera to see their child, which further severs them. The onus is on the system, and particularly the youth custody centre, to facilitate and engage families.” A yearly report on youth custody centres, he added, talks about areas they need to improve upon, and included doing a better job engaging aboriginal families. Another problem is the disconnect from their culture the young women will experience upon being shipped south. “It is not advisable to sever First Nations ties to their culture and families,” Guno said. Guno says some inmates also fear for their safety in Burnaby. “I did receive a call from a young lady at the custody centre asking me to advocate for her. She is fearful of being sent to Burnaby,” he said. Youth are fearful of exploitation, an appropriate concern according to Guno, who added that worry is combined with shipping these youth to the Lower Mainland, an area rife with a number of other problems, which have been the focus of the missing women inquiry. He said they also have limited access to programming, something Guno fears is likely to continue to be an issue even though the ministry has promised to put $900,000 of the money they save by centralizing youth custody towards enhanced youth justice programs. “They try to spin it by saying there will be greener pastures for the ladies,” he said. He added centralizing the custody centre as well as programming means there will be few services available to these youth when they return to the North. “We know factually young peo-
MILLER’S MARMALADES
Te re s a M A LLA M / Fre e Pre s s
Birthe Miller at her homemade preserves booth at the downtown Farmer’s Market on Saturday. ple in custody centres do eventually come back home. “Then there will be no services available for them.” Guno pointed out the North has
Great Canadian & TOUCHLESS CAR WASH
the highest percentage of young Aboriginal girls victimized in Canada. “Those numbers indicate we need more services,” he said.
March lions and lambs
Though March was named for Mars, the god of war, the month was more fizzle than sizzle weather-wise in Prince George. A news release from Environment Canada described the month as nondescript, with a few periods slightly above, and a few slightly below, normal temperatures. Temperatures ended up very close to normal with an average daily high of 4.7 degrees C and an average daily low of -5.7. The warmest day was March 27 with a maximum of 10.1 degrees C and the coldest was the evening of March 6 with an overnight minimum of -18.7. The month had a wet start with some wet days and snow near mid month. However, by the end of the month on average both snow and rain was below normal. The total precipitation was 22.8 mm, 69 per cent of the normal of 32.7 mm. Total precipitation for the year to date is 70.9 mm, 60 per cent of the normal of 116.8 mm.
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