Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Nov 05/99) - The Inuvik Justice Committee has moved into its new home and on Sunday it threw open the doors to the public.

The open-house at No. 4 Dolphin Street wasn't just a chance to show off the new digs, however. Board chairwoman Alana Mero said the committee was also looking to attract new members.

"It went wonderfully and about 35 people showed up," Mero said. "We got seven people signed up who are interested in being on the board. We have about seven members already, but numbers are flexible."

Mero said the committee was especially interested in recruiting aboriginal members as well as elders and youth -- to give the board a makeup more representative of the region. She said committee co-ordinator John Nash would be charged with the task of going into the schools and looking for recruits.

One of 15 justice committees across the territory, Nash said the Inuvik organization has been around since 1992 and is involved in a number of programs.

"We mainly perform diversions," Nash said. "If a person admits to committing an offence, they may be referred to us by the RCMP and by the courts, if the defence and Crown agree."

Nash said other committee functions include supervising clients who must perform a number of community-service hours to work off fines and also making recommendations in court on sentencing. Mero said the committee operates on an annual budget of $72,000, funded by the territorial and federal justice ministries, and handles an average of between four and six diversions a month.

With a background in criminology and sociology and in Inuvik as co-ordinator since August, Nash said he's also working on strengthening the committee's ties to its 39 non-profit community partners, like Turning Point.