David Ramsay

Yes, getting back to the review on effectiveness and efficiency, the answer to the Member’s question is yes. As we move this forward, I look forward to the input of Regular Members on where we go from here. Thank you.

We currently have four of those positions in the Northwest Territories in four different communities across the NWT, but no, they’re there to observe and monitor and act as a liaison with the RCMP and report activity to the RCMP and monitor the situation as it happens. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We take every opportunity to sit down with industry and just recently we had the opportunity. I know, through the budget address, we’re looking at increasing the population by 2,000 residents here in the Northwest Territories over the next five years. We’re not going to do that if we don’t have buy-in from the mining companies here in the Northwest Territories that are big employers here. We need to continue that dialogue, and we will continue that dialogue on trying to find a way and a means to attract people to live in the Northwest Territories and be residents here.

I...

Yes, Madam Chair. We can do that and the sooner the better. Effective April 1st, the Government of the Northwest Territories will be the regulator of the oil and gas industry here in the Northwest Territories. We should get that briefing up and running for committee and Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We haven’t seen an increase in the fund. It is fully subscribed. There are obviously, as the Member makes light of, a number of pressures that are currently on folks that want to get out on the land to hunt or to harvest and those pressures are real. The price of gas, I know he talked about some of the issues with climate change, and I understand there are regions in the Northwest Territories where snow came a little bit late this year, so it was difficult for hunters to get out and that’s something that we understand. We haven’t, again, seen an increase to this budget...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That’s ongoing with the National Energy Board and we are making that effort. Thank you.

It’s appropriated for this year. There are plans to appropriate it for next year and then, going forward from there, we will have to see how successful that effort has been. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We had a review of the Business Development Investment Corporation. We’ve just got that report back. We’re currently reviewing that report. It’s our expectation that we’ll have to respond to that report, at which time there are going to be some decisions, obviously, that will need to be made, and we certainly look forward to sharing the report and its findings with Members and talking about next steps forward when it comes to the Business Development Investment Corporation and where we go from here. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, addiction to drugs or alcohol is the number one issue facing many northern inmates. The Department of Justice is taking steps to enhance addictions programs through the corrections service.

Recently this Assembly supported the South Slave Mackenzie Correctional Centre through the hiring of three new staff to develop and deliver an intensive addictions program for inmates. Inmates wishing to participate are accepted into the program based on several factors, including their readiness for change. The first intake for this new program was on October 24...

At almost every opportunity the issue of community policing, First Nations policing, Aboriginal Constable Program is raised with the RCMP. That is something that our government is very much interested in seeing advanced.

As I mentioned to the Member in my first set of responses to her, there was no uptake in the last Aboriginal Constable Program that was set to go to Depot in the fall of 2013. I believe we had one individual from the Northwest Territories that was set to take the training. We have two spots reserved for us when that program does get off the ground in 2015. The individual that...