Alberta to open new drug treatment courts in Grande Prairie and Red Deer by year end

The Alberta government’s four-year investment of up to $20 million will support the establishment of drug treatment courts in five new locations, including in Grande Prairie and Red Deer, expected to be open by the end of 2021.

These drug treatment courts seek to break the cycle of addiction-motivated crime by providing access to judicially supervised addiction treatment and recovery to survivors, supplemented by frequent drug testing, sanctions, incentives and social services support.

The program’s expansion, aside from better serving rural and remote communities, recognizes that, for those who reoffend because of underlying drug dependency, punishment alone will not help them turn their lives around.

“Expanding drug treatment courts to communities like Grande Prairie helps even more people struggling with addictions get their lives back on track and prevent addiction-related crime in our communities,” said Kaycee Madu, Alberta’s justice minister and solicitor general, in the news release.

Drug treatment courts were launched in Edmonton in 2005 and in Calgary in 2007. The additional funding will help these courts double their total combined capacity to 80 participants annually. New drug treatment courts then opened in Lethbridge in November 2020 and in Medicine Hat this January. Alberta has yet to finalize the details of the fifth new court location.

Dave Shynkar and Morris Golden, assistant chief judge and judge, respectively, of the Provincial Court of Alberta, said that the sentencing of courts aims to safeguard society and to impose sanctions on offenders, including through denouncing certain behaviour and through deterring certain conduct, and should thus balance the harm experienced by communities with the rehabilitation of drug-dependent non-violent reoffenders.

“A drug treatment court will greatly assist us in getting to the root of the problem, and by lifting people out of addiction, break the cycle of addiction and crime to feed it,” said Steven Hinkley, chief Crown prosecutor at Grande Prairie.

“Drug courts do not absolve people of their criminal responsibility, their goal is to reduce recidivism and break the cycle of abuse by encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their actions,” said Mike Ellis, Alberta’s associate mental health and addictions minister.

“The expansion of a drug treatment court to the community of Grande Prairie will open doors for so many people who are involved in the drug and criminal lifestyle by offering them the opportunity to change their lives and those of their families,” said Grace Froese, director of provincial drug treatment court development at the Edmonton John Howard Society.

“As other jurisdictions have benefited from this type of treatment, I am optimistic and eager to see the positive impacts this new drug treatment court will have on our community,” said Travis Toews, president of Alberta’s Treasury Board and finance minister.