Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to the review then, can the Minister advise whether steps will be taken to address any new or revised affirmative action or employment equity policies in the review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Detail. Detail.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories established the affirmative action policy in 1989 to “achieve equality and employment and career development for qualified, suitable and eligible target group persons.” The principles of affirmative action have long been recognized, Mr. Speaker, as a legitimate, indeed, responsible thing as they balance their workforce among the people they serve or rely on for their business.

Here in the NWT, our policy is met with mixed results and many Members, over time, have addressed the policy shortfalls. The Minister responsible has...

I appreciate the information. That has helped me get a sense of sort of the scope and the scale of what we are talking about here. Those are all the questions I have in that area for this time, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Anticipating the growth in economic activity in the South Mackenzie and the increase of population in the town of Hay River, although it may not be sustained, there will be something over the course of hopefully the next several years…The Minister mentioned that there were somewhere in the neighbourhood of 66 people a year who are held over. Thirty-three of them, or about half of them, would actually be, if you will, denied the benefit of remand in their own area. They would be sent to Yellowknife. But given that we really do anticipate an increase in population and activity and, therefore...

Mr. Chairman, also on a related line, and I think our colleague Ms. Lee spoke to it as well, is the very large question across Canada of growing crime related to substance abuse. We were, of course, all witness to a horrible event in Alberta a few days ago, so there is quite a level of sensitivity about this. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice for Canada, Anne McLellan, went into what I found a very interesting and appropriate kind of discussion over the weekend to urge, I guess in a ministerial way, our justice community to take a tougher stand when convicting people of drug...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That’s all.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, have a few different areas to comment on, but I would perhaps switch the format here and see if I could put them out one at a time and see if the Minister would engage in how much ground we could cover in the 10 minutes allotted here. I’m going to be repeating a number of areas, but I do want to get a couple things on the record here.

To the number of police we are able to staff in the Northwest Territories and specifically to the police in the smallest communities, they too should have a police presence. It’s something that’s certainly very desirable. Is it...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the discussion on this area. Mr. Chairman, a couple aspects of it that I might go to; the news, that compared to any other jurisdiction, we are busier on this front than most parts of Canada is impressive. I would like to see if the department could supply at some time or make public or make more public, any kind of report or assessment or snapshot on the level, the amount and the nature of these committees.

Just to give one example, perhaps in a given community, it doesn’t matter which one, what percentage of applicable offences would be referred to a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Committee has difficulty accepting the department’s rationale and anticipated cost-savings associated with the closure of the remand unit at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre.

Members could not reconcile how the shifting of the responsibility for remand prisoners to the RCMP cells in Hay River would result in any significant cost-savings. The RCMP will have to expend resources to guard and transport remand prisoners. Just because this expense will be hidden within the larger overall contribution made to the RCMP to provide law enforcement services to the...