Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not aware of the exact number of condominium corporations in operation right now. It is, though, I know a relatively small number. Condominiums are a fairly new method of housing in the Northwest Territories and that’s one of the other reasons, as we start to see more and more of them, that we need to take a look at our act and make sure that we are protecting the consumers adequately.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t think the Member would find any different opinion from Mr. Cooper or me, that justice delivered at the community level is better justice. I think what we would say, and Mr. Cooper advises me, that the community involvement in the Northwest Territories is already higher than what you would find anywhere else in Canada.

We have, across the Northwest Territories, 30 active community justice committees, where we are seeing them do exactly what the Member is recommending. They are taking administration of justice to the residents of that community and we are quite...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I speak to an event that reminds us of the dangers facing those who put their lives on the line to make our communities safer. Yesterday, four RCMP officers were shot and killed while investigating a suspected marijuana grow operation near Rochfort Bridge, Alberta.

This serious and tragic event has touched all of us, especially the officers’ colleagues here in the Northwest Territories who are represented in this House this morning by Inspector Greg Morrow and Inspector Roch Fortin of “G” division. It also reminds us of the...

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present the 2005-06 Department of Justice main estimates. These estimates offer details on how the department will allocate its resources to meet its mandate of administering justice, including corrections and policing, in the Northwest Territories.

The 2005-06 operational budget for the department is $79.8 million. This is an increase of .58 percent of approximately $460,000 from last year’s main estimates. This increase will help make our communities safer and improve access to legal aid services.

Seventy percent of our total budget will be spent on law...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To speak to the Member’s first allegation that people know that there are people who are dealing drugs and there is no action taking place, the RCMP can’t do it alone. They need to have witnesses, they need to have people tell them they are prepared to go to court and say this person is dealing drugs. I would encourage anyone who knows that sort of information and has it, to report to the RCMP that that will happen.

In terms of the allocation of traffic positions, the RCMP had started a pilot project in Hay River that put two positions into places that would have gone...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I attended the session earlier this week with Crack Busters and the article that the Member refers to was passed around there so, yes, I am aware of the article and I am aware of the issue in Yellowknife. It was quite a dramatic presentation that we received from Crack Busters.

Mr. Speaker, the enforcement of high level national or international drug targets is the responsibility of the federal policing, whereas street and mid-level targets fall to the province or territory for enforcement. So we work with our partners in the RCMP to provide them with the funding to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can reveal what is available. I know that, for instance, the FMBS has told us that we can’t reveal all of the numbers because, in many cases, they might indicate a specific person. I will take a look at what can be provided. I don’t think it should be difficult to get that information for the Member, because I believe that we have already provided a good part of this information, or as much as we can, to other Members in this House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven’t ever said that we had cost overruns at the North Slave Correctional Centre. The department didn’t seek supplementary funding for the operations. There will have been some money that would have been allocated from one resource to another, whether it was permanent employees to overtime, or permanent employees to casual, it would have been handled through the normal process. The overrun that has been referred to isn’t something that we have characterized as an overrun. We haven’t come to this House and sought supplementary appropriation for it. The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I have spoken to Chief Superintendent Summerfield about the issue of drugs in the Northwest Territories. Much of our discussion in the past year has been about working with the federal government to make sure that all of the federal positions are filled in the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories is responding to the resourcing request that has been put in by the RCMP and some of that is in this year’s budget. I am hoping to follow through and complete the numbers that they have requested in next year’s budget. I have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the best of my knowledge the operations in Hay River were all run effectively and very close to on budget, if not under budget. Thank you very much.