Review of the Nunavut Community Justice Program: Final Report
APPENDIX 6 - CONSULTATION GUIDELINES AND INTERVIEW GUIDES
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Regional Community Justice Specialists
Interviews with Regional Community Justice Specialists will be structured but open-ended. They will be conducted individually with each Specialist, although discussions will also take place with the Specialists as a group. A set of information needs (listed below) will be addressed. Discussions that range beyond the information needs listed here will be included in the analysis as long as they are relevant to the program review.
Background Information
- Length of time as a Regional Community Justice Specialist in Nunavut.
- Which region are you in and which communities do you serve?
- What are the main problems in the communities?
- What kinds of offences mainly occur?
- Is the offending mainly by youth or adults?
- Are there community programs or facilities (other than the Community Justice Committees) that help with crime prevention or with victims and offenders?
- If so, are these effective? (Elaborate.)
Working Roles and Relationships
- What is your role as Regional Community Justice Specialist?
- What do you see as the mandate and role of Community Justice Committees?
- Describe your relationship with the Community Justice Committees.
- Do Committees have clear goals?
- In overall terms, are the Committees effective in meeting their goals?
- Specifically, what do the Committees in your communities do?
- What approaches and techniques do they use?
- What are the problems facing Community Justice Committees?
- How could these problems be solved?
- What do you see as the role of Coordinators?
- Are the Coordinators doing their jobs effectively?
- If not, what could help them be more effective?
- What is your view of the roles being played by the Hamlets in your region?
- How could the roles of the Hamlets be improved (e.g., regarding the management of the Contribution Agreements).
Capacity and Training / Development
- What job-related training and skill development have you received?
- As a Regional Community Justice Specialist, what do you need to enable you to do your job better?
- What are the capacity limits of the Community Justice Committees (e.g., volunteer hours, number of cases, skills, funding, infrastructure, organizational development)?
- Do the Committees have enough capacity to take on added responsibilities under the YCJA?
- What do Community Justice Committees need to enable them to do their jobs better?
- Are there specific program development needs that would enable Committees to carry out their mandates more effectively?
- [Two especially important issues are likely to be training and opportunities to share information and experiences for Community Justice Committees and Coordinators. These issues and others will be discussed extensively.]
RCMP
- Describe your working relationship with the RCMP.
- Are there ways in which your relationship with the RCMP could be improved?
- Describe the relationship of the Community Justice Committee with the RCMP in each of the communities, with specific reference to diversion (including whether or not there is a protocol in place).
- Are these relationships effective? If not, how could they be improved?
- What do the Committees need in order to work more effectively with the RCMP?
- What does the RCMP need in order for the relationship to be more effective?
Judges / Crown Prosecutors / Legal Aid
- Describe your working relationship with the judges, Crown Prosecutors and legal aid.
- Are there ways in which these relationships could be improved?
- Are there working relationships between the Community Justice Committees and the Judges, Crown Prosecutors and legal aid in your communities?
- If so, what is the nature of these relationships?
- Are they effective? If not, how could they be improved?
- What is the nature of the relationships between Judges/Crowns/legal aid and the communities themselves?
- Are these relationships effective? If not, how could they be improved?
Relationship between Specialists and Justice Headquarters
- What is the nature of your relationship with Justice Headquarters in Iqaluit?
- Does HQ support you adequately as a Specialist? If not, what improvements are required?
- Specifically, is there adequate communication between Specialists and HQ Corporate Services? Community Corrections? Policy and Planning Division? If not, what are the implications? How could the situation be remedied?
Relationship between Specialists and Federal Partners (Aboriginal Justice Directorate and National Crime Prevention Centre)
- What is the nature of the relationship between you as a Specialist and (i) the Aboriginal Justice Directorate, and (ii) the National Crime Prevention Centre?
- Are there problems with the relationship? If so, what are they? How could the problems be addressed?
- What support do these agencies provide to the Community Justice Committees in your region?
- Is the support adequate? If not, what additional support is required?
- Are there other improvements that could be made in the relationships that would improve the ability of Committees to carry out their mandates?
General Observations
- What are the limitations of the Nunavut Community Justice Program?
- What are the Program's strengths?
- Could the Program develop greater effectiveness without an increase in funding? If so, how?
Other Information/Comments
- Other comments or observations about community based justice in this community.
Mayors / Councillors / Senior Administrative Officers
Interviews with hamlet mayors, councilors and SAOs will be structured but open-ended. A set of information needs (listed below) will be addressed. Discussions that range beyond the information needs listed here will be included in the analysis as long as they are relevant to the program review. When possible, SAOs will be interviewed separately from Mayors/Councilors. SAOs may also take part in the interviews with Mayors/Councilors.
Community Background Information
- What are the main problems in the community?
- What kinds of offences occur here?
- Is the offending mainly by youth or adults?
- What programs or facilities help with respect to crime prevention?
- What programs are available for offenders and victims?
Community Justice Committee
- Does the Hamlet Council have an agreement with the Nunavut Department of Justice to handle funding for the Community Justice Committee (Contribution Agreement)?
- What are the Council's responsibilities with respect to the Contribution Agreement?
- What are the Council's responsibilities with respect to the Community Justice Committee?
- Does the Council work directly with the Community Justice Committee on any aspect of the community justice process? If so, specify.
- What are the SAO's responsibilities with respect to the Contribution Agreement?
- What are the SAO's responsibilities with respect to the Community Justice Committee?
- Does the SAO communicate regularly with the Community Justice Committee? If so, how is this done (e.g., through the Coordinator)?
- Does the Council (or the SAO) provide the Community Justice Committee with a monthly financial report relating to the Contribution Agreement? If not, why?
- Does the Hamlet provide support to the Community Justice Committee and the Coordinator through the provision of meeting space, computer, etc? If not, why?
- What is the mandate and role of the Community Justice Committee?
- Is the Community Justice Committee effective in fulfilling its mandate? If not, why?
- Are there ways the Community Justice Committee could improve?
- Regarding the Contribution Agreement, does the amount of time and effort required make it viable for the Hamlet?
- How does the Contribution Agreement for justice compare with other Contribution Agreements administered by the Hamlet (e.g., Addictions, Lands Officer, Economic Development) in terms of effectiveness and viability.
- How could the Contribution Agreement for justice be improved?
- Is the relationship between the Hamlet/SAO and the Community Justice Committee satisfactory from the perspective of the Hamlet and the SAO?
- If not, why not?
- How could the relationship be improved?
- Is there a need for the Hamlet Council and the Community Justice Committee to improve communications and/or to work together more closely? If so, how could this be done?
- Is the Hamlet's relationship with Nunavut Justice in Iqaluit satisfactory? If not, why?
- How could it be improved?
- Is the Hamlet's relationship with the Regional Justice Specialist satisfactory? If not, why?
- How could it be improved?
RCMP
- Is the RCMP effective with respect to crime prevention and community based solutions? If so, what do they do?
- Are there ways the RCMP could improve their effectiveness in the community?
Other Information/Comments
- Other comments or observations about community based justice in this community.
RCMP Officers
Interviews with RCMP officers will be structured but open-ended. A set of information needs (listed below) will be addressed. Discussions that range beyond the information needs listed here will be included in the analysis as long as they are relevant to the program review.
Background Information
- Rank.
- Number of years service in RCMP.
- Length of time in this community.
- Length of time in Nunavut .
- Length of time in the North.
General Assessment of the Community
- Crimes by type and frequency.
- Comparison of offending by youth and adult.
- Particular issues facing the community.
- Availability of programs and facilities for crime prevention.
- Availability of programs for offenders and victims.
- Is the detachment or the officer engaged in community activities? If so, what are they?
Community Justice Committee
- Does the detachment have one officer assigned to be the contact with the Community Justice Committee? If so, is this effective?
- Are cases diverted to the Community Justice Committee? If no, why not?
- Youth or adult diversions or both?
- Pre-charge or post-charge diversions or both?
- What types of cases are diverted?
- Frequency of diversions.
- How does the officer make the decision to divert?
- Does the RCMP involve the victim in the decision to divert? If so, how? If not, why not?
- Does the RCMP involve the victim either during or after the diversion process? If so, how? If not, why not?
- What approaches does the Committee use in working with offenders and victims?
- Does the officer play a role in the process once a case is diverted? If so, what is it (e.g., present in mediation or counseling)?
- What kinds of conditions and results does the RCMP expect once the Community Justice Committee has taken over a case?
- How are the conditions and results monitored by the RCMP?
- Will the RCMP comply if the Committee wishes to refer cases back?
- Is there an ongoing communication between the detachment and the Community Justice Committee? If so, what is the nature of the communication process? If not, why not?
- What is the mandate and role of the Community Justice Committee?
- Would you say that the processes being used by the Community Justice Committee are restorative justice?
- Do you think the Community Justice Committee is effective in reducing recidivism or deterring crime?
- Are there ways the Community Justice Committee could improve?
- Is there a need for the detachment and the Community Justice Committee to improve communications and/or to work together more closely? If so, how could this be done?
- Describe the working relationship between the detachment and the Regional Justice Specialist. Could it be improved? If so, how?
Other Information/Comments
- Other comments or observations about community based justice in this community.
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