David Ramsay

Unless it’s court ordered, I’m wondering if the corrections service here in the Northwest Territories could commit to making programming mandatory for any violent offender in the Northwest Territories and why should we have to wait for the court to instruct us to do so. I think the justice system and corrections service here in the Northwest Territories should make that program and service available to all violent offenders in the Northwest Territories and it should be mandatory, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Justice getting back to my Member’s statement where I talked about the latest statistics indicating that close to 70 percent of all adults in custody today in the Northwest Territories are there for violent offences. I’d like to begin by asking the Minister what programming or rehabilitation services are currently available for violent offenders incarcerated in the Northwest Territories correctional facilities. Thank you.

What there is clear evidence of is that the authorities have been grossly underfunded for a number of years, and I think that’s a large piece of the deficit that’s been allowed to build up. The reason is because they’ve been underfunded. I’m wondering what steps the Minister can take. Obviously, I don’t think that’s been addressed in this budget, but they need to be funded to a more appropriate level and how are we addressing that? I guess that’s the question I’ll leave the Minister with. I know my time is up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my statement from yesterday where I was speaking about the abysmal statistics in the Northwest Territories when it comes to family violence.

Having the highest crime rate in the country and the second highest rate of violent crimes in the nation is not a statistic we should have and it should be an embarrassment for this government. Spousal assault is up 107 percent in four years and there’s a 43 percent increase for sentences in violent crimes in just seven years.

In my opinion, what we can do immediately is to review our programs and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m just wondering if the Minister, I know she was answering some questions from Ms. Bisaro about the deficits at the authorities. Yesterday I had asked for correspondence from the department to the authorities, whatever that correspondence is, on instructions on how to deal with deficit. I was hoping the Minister could perhaps give the committee copies of that correspondence. I’d like to see what the department is telling the authorities.

Come the end of March it’s going to be up close to $30 million in accrued deficits around the authorities. I mentioned to the...

I appreciate the response from the deputy minister. I guess, from my perspective, especially the Beaufort-Delta and Stanton are in such dire straits financially, running up big deficits at those two authorities, my fear is that when you throw this on top of everything else, it has the potential to send them spiralling again further into a deficit situation. I’d like to see the department budgeting for… And these are costs that I don’t think would be too hard to even guess at what your costs are going to be. Your costs are going to go up. If you have to repatriate people within 48 hours, it’s...

Given the fact that it was a sizable tract of land, 36,000 acres, I’m just wondering whether or not the Minister and Cabinet would have an obligation to advise Regular Members of this transaction, especially considering we have constituents that would ask (a) if we know about the deal, and (b) what the selling price was. That piqued my interest, in that what exactly the government is getting in return for the 36,000 acres of land outside of Norman Wells.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I just wanted to get a better understanding of how it’s possible that the Government of the Northwest Territories sold 36,000 acres of land to the Norman Wells Land Corporation without Regular Members of the House being informed in any way, shape, or fashion. That’s the first question I’ve got for the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, that is what scares me. I am not sure why the Minister can’t stand up today and articulate what exactly the government is going to do to address the fact that spousal assault in the Northwest Territories has increased 107 percent under their watch. What are you going to do about that matter, Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the reasons I ask that question is because we have gone to a four-year degree program with our northern nursing students now and one of the concerns that I’ve heard is that there aren’t the jobs, the jobs aren’t posted. Even though we’ve got locums and we’re relying on agency nurses, the jobs aren’t being posted. They’re not out there. For new grads coming into the work scene, it’s a pretty scary sight when you’re graduating from a four-year Northern Nursing Program and there are no jobs to be had on paper. Then you see all these locum nurses and agency nurses working in the Northwest...