Despite having one of the worst crime rates in the country, the territorial government does not track how often people commit another crime after being released from jail.
Recidivism refers to the tendency of a person who has been convicted of a crime to reoffend. Rates can vary across Canada, depending on how theySA国际影视传媒檙e measured, whether based on rearrests or reconvictions.
Ngan Trinh, senior communications advisor for the Department of Justice, said the GNWT won't track recidivism for a number of reasons, including not being able to settle on a definition.
"Recidivism is a complex and multifaceted concept that can be defined and measured in many ways; examples include re-arrest, reconviction, or re-incarceration, each with its own limitations and implications," said Trinh. "There is an absence of national consistent standardized definitions of recidivism in corrections, in addition to capability limitations with the offender management system software being utilized in corrections facilities."
SA国际影视传媒 reached out to Justice Minister Jay Macdonald for an interview on the subject, but he declined. That was enough for one lawyer to say the minister shouldn't be "passing the buck," and instead be asking more questions about the lack of data.
Lawyer Michael Spratt, based in Ottawa, does circuit court work in the NWT. He said the lack of information on repeat offenders is an issue that plagues the entire country.
"We have very little data with respect to people committing offences while on release [and] the type of people that commit offences after their sentence is done. We just don't have that data, largely because we don't take the time or dedicate the resources to collecting it," said Spratt.
He said collecting and sharing data on recidivism would require cooperation across various levels of government, since responsibilities are sometimes split.
The federal government, for example, prosecutes some offences while provinces and territories handle administering justice. Different court systems can hold separate information. In the NWT, jails are run by the territorial government, but policing is done through a federal service, the .
"We have all these different actors who can't seem to share information," Spratt said.
SA国际影视传媒 reached out to the federal justice department, asking if it had any information on the recidivism rate in the NWT. Senior advisor Ian McLeod said the department does not, nor does Statistics Canada.
While the federal government is responsible for enacting criminal law and procedure, provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the administration of justice, which would include most data collection, McLeod said.
There is some information the GNWT has on recontact rates with certain offenders. For example, Trinh said that, from 2021-2024, 26 per cent of inmates who completed the therapeutic community program at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River have been readmitted to an NWT correctional facility SA国际影视传媒� either remanded or sentenced.
That program is voluntary. In 2024, only 16 people attended the program, according to Trinh. She also said the GNWT's offender management system software is so limited it can't track recidivism to begin with. The statistic pertaining to the therapeutic community program was calculated manually.
"Our existing offender management system lacks the functionality to capture data in this way," she said.
Without more information and context, Spratt said it's hard to tell what that percentage actually means.
"Is 26 per cent good or bad? How do you know if you don't track the rest? Maybe that's a wild success story or maybe that program is not delivering much value. You don't know," he said.
Ultimately, information on recidivism matters because it's valuable information that can help keep communities safe, Spratt said.
"You can only know if jail works, or if conditional sentences are effective, if you can track," he said. "Are those people committing new offences? And if they are, why are they committing new offences?" he asked rhetorically.
Premier R.J. Simpson told SA国际影视传媒 he'd be in support of reforming the territory's bail system, specifically to stop people from reoffending rapidly.
"I'm in support of reforming our bail system so that we can have the ability to hold offenders who too often we see come out and reoffend, very quickly," said Simpson. "I want to make it easier for the courts and the police to protect citizens from individuals who might do them harm."
However, the premier made clear that he's not looking to lock anyone up and throw away the key.
"We have to address the effects of trauma if we're going to have any impact on the judicial system," he stated. "That being said, if there is an individual who is getting arrested and then released on a regular basis multiple times a week and taking up the time of the SA国际影视传媒� potentially committing property crimes, impacting businesses, impacting residents SA国际影视传媒� that's a problem that needs to be addressed."
