Public Safety parliamentary secretary Jacques Ramsay joins Nunavut MP and GN ministers for the announcement
Jacques Ramsay, the parliamentary secretary to the federal minister of public safety, was in Iqaluit with Nunavut MP Lori Idlout today for a news conference to announce $1.59 million over five years in funding to adapt and deliver a therapeutic justice program in Pond Inlet.
The program will provide an alternative to court proceedings and focus on healing, accountability and support, a Public Safety Department news release issued Friday said.
George Hickes, Nunavut’s minister of justice, said at the news conference a pilot project has already delivered the therapeutic justice program in Cambridge Bay and Arviat, where it has worked with 160 clients since 2019.
“The therapeutic justice program is designed to address some of the most pressing challenges in our justice system,” Hickes said. “The overrepresentation of Inuit in the criminal justice system. The need to reduce recidivism. The importance of strengthening mental health and trauma supports.”
The federal funding is administered through the Crime Prevention Action Fund, which is part of the National Crime Prevention Strategy.
“The goal of this fund is to support evidence-based crime prevention initiatives,” Ramsay said. “It specifically targets programs that address known risk factors associated with crime among vulnerable groups, especially children, youth and high-risk offenders.”
Hickes did not give specific details on why Pond Inlet was chosen for the program.
In September 2025, Pond Inlet’s then-MLA Karen Nutarak said there was an “escalating crisis” of suicides in the community and that the GN’s response prevented further tragedy.
“We look at the caseloads, we look at the number of calls,” Hickes said. “We look at the types of calls working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and we look at where we felt it’s going to be the most impactful.”
Hickes said the program will be delivered by the GN’s Justice and Health departments.
“Mental wellness is shaped by culture, family, language, community and connection to the land,” Health Minister Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster said at Friday’s news conference.
“Programs like this demonstrate that clinical care and you acknowledge are complementary not competing approaches to supporting mental wellness.”
Hickes said he would like to see the program delivered in every Nunavut community, but there are no plans in place to do that yet.
“When we’re looking at calls for service and the types of criminal activity in communities, it can fluctuate, it can change,” Hickes said.
“When we have an opportunity to roll this out to another community, those factors will be taken into consideration to choose the next one, and hopefully there is the next one. I do want to continue to build on this.”