Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member has a good point and it’s an issue that this government is quite aware of and is working to make sure that we keep in mind whenever we talk about issues like development in the North. In fact, the special joint committee on the pipeline, it’s part of its mandate to provide direction to the government on the negotiation of a SEA, and issues such as this are certainly the sort of thing that we want to see talked about during the negotiation with companies in the socioeconomic agreements. So we will make sure that we keep this sort of thing in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know I’ve talked to the college too about the facilities in Tuk and told them about the Member’s interest in seeing those facilities used for training purposes. So I am sure the college is taking a look at whether or not that provides an opportunity. The funding that is part of the Aboriginal Skills Employment Partnership Program will be administered by the committee that has been set up to oversee that sort of funding, but I will make sure that the Education, Culture and Employment representative on the committee keeps the opportunities in mind for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Labour Standards Act lays out employment standards for non-unionized businesses in the territory. It was first enacted in 1968 and was based on legislation in effect across Canada. It has been amended over the years on a piecemeal basis and now the act is disjointed and at times difficult to interpret.

The Department of Justice has initiated a review of the legislation and later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the document: Renewing the Labour Standards Act of the Northwest Territories: A Consultation Paper.

Mr. Speaker, in this...

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. There is a wide range of programming available for young offenders in our facilities, everything from schooling to special programs aimed at troubled youth. The On-the-Land programs have had a bit of a setback in the recent past because we haven’t had enough people incarcerated to have the interest in going out to that kind of facility. The other problem we face, of course, is there has to be a willingness on the part of the person incarcerated to attend an On-the-Land program. They can’t be forced to attend it. But we have, in the past, offered those kinds of programs...

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...