Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think what I have been saying is that is a natural course of what we are doing. It is something that this government is doing on a continual basis. We are, as social Ministers, working together to make sure that we are formulating the plans that will best serve our constituents. As we develop them, yes, they will be rolled out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the report and have reviewed it myself. Part of the response is to the social framework that this government is working in partnership with other agencies. That issue is discussed regularly at the social Ministers' envelope meetings and it is something that this government is working to bring forward. In terms of what we are doing specifically for oil and gas, it is no different than what we would do in all of our communities. We are working to improve the ability of communities to deal with social problems that are a result of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment invests about $1.1 million on its own annually to train people in regional settings to assist them to find jobs in the oil and gas field. That will continue and that does take place throughout the region, including communities like Tuk. The ASEP funding is intended to serve all of the regions in which oil and gas is found and in which people may find employment. So there is certainly an intention to make sure training takes place on a regional basis. I can assure the Member that there will be regional training...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize a friend today: Major Karen Hoeft.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, most communities in the Northwest Territories have a youth justice committee and, for the most part, young offenders are diverted to that committee. So residents in the community can decide what is an effective and appropriate manner of dealing with offenders. What it takes is an agreement or acknowledgement by the offender that they have committed an offence, and a willingness to work with the community to deal with that offence in an appropriate way. That is by far the biggest option that we have for young offenders in our communities across the North...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Members know, it is not my position to direct the RCMP as to where their staff should go. I have discussed the staffing situation in Fort Simpson with the chief superintendent. The chief superintendent assured me that the decision was made based on need across the Territories. Given the complement of members that we have in the Territories, the chief superintendent is confident that the decisions on where members are located are proper as they stand right now. The next time I meet with the chief superintendent, I will make sure that I advise him that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the RCMP establish staff positions based on need in the community, and I understand that the decision they made to change the staffing levels in Fort Simpson was based on their assessment of the requirements for maintaining public safety in that region. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the Treasury Board funding that the Member refers to, so I would have to request some information from the RCMP on how that funding was accessed and allocated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has funded one RCMP officer to work as a community liaison person. That position has worked with the organizations in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Norman Wells. So there is a resource available from the RCMP to help, for instance, organize committees like the Wellness Coalition in Yellowknife. So, yes, there are programs available to help communities. We generally try and work through the justice committees in communities, because we have the infrastructure there to focus our activities. So they tend to be the focus, but we do provide other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue is complex and it does involve or require a cross-jurisdictional, or cross-departmental response. One of the ways in which we’re hoping to deal with that is that the social envelope is working together to try and improve on case management so that we have people in the communities who work in the different departments, whether it’s Justice, Health and Social Services, or corrections, to deal with people in a case management process. We are hoping that we are going to be able to improve the way in which we deal with people who have challenges that...