Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 2, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - Sometimes a little diversion goes a long way.

Diversion is a legal program that allows offenders young and old, with minor offences and clean records, to sidestep the courts system and make amends for their crimes without ending up with a criminal record.

Lydia Bardak

"There has to be a willingness to take responsibility," said Lydia Bardak, co-ordinator of the Yellowknife Community Justice Committee.

It was a sentiment that was echoed pretty much verbatim by crown lawyer Shelley Tkatch, and Cpl. Charlotte Joa, the RCMP's head of restorative justice.

A case for diversion starts in the hands of the RCMP or the courts. Either body can recommend to divert a case based on their discretion.

Tkatch said it's up to the Crown to decide whether to prosecute.

"(A case can be diverted) if we find it won't be contrary to the public's interest," she said, also outlining many other things the Crown must consider, like the resources required to prosecute versus the seriousness of the crime, and the concerns of any victims involved.

She also said that the courts are obligated to consider diversion first for youth cases under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which is also something the RCMP must consider as well, according to Joa.

"The police are mandated to consider youth cases for diversion," she said.

Once referred, a case is then handled by a community justice committee.

The committee is a trained volunteer group of citizens who assist the justice system by providing conflict resolution, public education and crime prevention services.

As the head of Yellowknife's committee, Bardak said when they receive a case, they start with an informal discussion of the incident with the accused, in which they encourage the person to talk freely about the incident.

"Then from there, we decide what we are going to do about it," she said.

Bardak said the committee does see a lot of alcohol fueled problems, and one of their actions will frequently be to recommend a person see an addictions counselor.

She said in cases where the committee thinks a person might not feel like they need counseling, there might be an added twist to allow a counsellor to build rapport.

"For example, we might have them go to an addictions counselor and learn as much as they can about how marijuana affects the developing minds of teens, and then come back and make a presentation to us," she said.

Another example she gave was recommending that a person make a donation to a non-profit organization which helps victims of violence, but to first research the ones in the territory to decide which one.

She also said that the committee can recommend community service hours.

"We had a case a while back where there was some spray-painting on a city property," she said, explaining that in that case, the committee recommended cleaning another city property.

"If there is an identifiable victim in the case, we encourage them to participate," she said, adding that sometimes the committee will have the accused write a letter of apology to the victim.

Sometimes the victim can be helped a lot just by meeting the person who committed the crime, said Bardak.

She explained a case in which an intoxicated young man had entered an building and managed to take some property from an apartment while the occupants were sleeping.

Bardak said that the occupants were terrified to think that their home had potentially been entered by a dangerous person.

"They were relieved to meet this nice high-school boy who was just drunk and stupid one night," she said.

Throughout the whole process, however, a close eye is kept on the accused to make sure the process is not being abused.

"If at some point I stop and think, hey, I am working harder at this than (the accused) is" she said then the case will be brought back to the RCMP or the courts.

Bardak said she figures somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of successful diversion clients end up back in court with other charges, but that it's still a successful venture.

"For most of them it's just an out of character incident and we never see them again.