The Province, in partnership with the BC First Nations Justice Council, has opened an Indigenous justice centre in Kamloops.

Attorney General Niki Sharma was in Kamloops to take part in a ceremony opening up the local centre on Thursday.

“They’re just going to be great on the ground resources to help break the cycle for indigenous people from the criminal justice system and provide real cultural support that’s going to heal the individual and the community,” said Sharma.

In addition to Kamloops, Indigenous justice centres are also opening in Williams Lake, Cranbrook, Port Hardy, Fort St. John and a shared location serving the communities of Burns Lake and Hazelton.

They join the existing nine centres in Chilliwack, Kelowna, Merritt, Nanaimo, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria, along with a virtual centre serving the province remotely.

Sharma says these centres will provide Indigenous clients with legal representation and access to wraparound services that extend beyond their legal needs.

“So what we do know, and I think this fits into our First Nations justice strategy, is that the fundamental belief is we need to do things differently,” she said.  “We need to figure out a way to have our justice system work in a way that addresses the challenges for people and makes communities and individuals safer.”

Indigenous justice centres are part of the BC government’s goal of advancing reconciliation efforts, but are designed with an eye toward the younger generation.

“When we can get an intervention in somebody’s life at an early stage, it prevents that kind of cycling in and out of the justice system that actually is damaging for communities and the individuals,” Sharma told Radio NL in a sit-down interview. “So getting the intervention at the right time is actually an effective use of resources, and we’ve seen that in the many stories I’ve heard from these centers since the short time they’ve been operating.”

The Kamloops facility is located at 440 Victoria Street, downtown.