David Ramsay

It’s almost impossible to answer that question because some positions are vacant for a month, others are vacant for two months. You have to bring in casuals at some point to carry out the duties of those positions on a case-by-case basis. It is not something that you can just put a number at and say this is that. We have a department to run and we’re always filling positions as they come up. That number is going to change, as is the number that’s there. It’s not a static number. It’s something that’s constantly changing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As Minister of Justice, I think I have to be very careful on getting involved in the Criminal Code side of things or sentencing. From my perspective and the department’s perspective, it’s very important that we look at opportunities to divert people away from the mainstream court system. Oftentimes, having communities deal with sentencing and issues at the community level is far more effective than locking somebody up in an institution, and we have had some success there. We made a presentation to the standing committee this morning on wellness courts, and that’s...

Thank you. We can get that detail for the Member, get him a breakdown. I think we even have it by facility as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my left I have Mr. Peter Vician, deputy minister, Industry, Tourism and Investment. To my right, Ms. Nancy Magrum, director, shared services, finance and administration.

Mr. Speaker, we need to continue the dialogue with all departments and ensure that when we are contracting, whether it is any of the various modes of contracting that this government does, an eye is to keep those dollars in the Northwest Territories. Not always are we going to be able to get the goods or services here in the Northwest Territories. There are going to be examples of when we have to go outside, but again, it’s our government’s goal to ensure that the procurement dollars that we do have end up staying here in the NWT for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Department of Finance is taking the lead on that initiative and we certainly are supporting them in that effort. Thank you.

I don’t have that detail, but we’d be happy to provide the Member with that detail. Thank you.

No, we currently do not have that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re moving forward with the plans for wellness court. We will be in front of committee for a detailed presentation on Monday, February 24th. So on Monday we’ll be in front of the Standing Committee on Social Programs. I look forward to Members’ input on our plans thus far. Our anticipation is to have the wellness court up and running this year. It will happen. We’ve got some funding to see that happen and we want to get Members’ feedback on Monday on our progress to date. Thank you.

We have to get folks back here to the Northwest Territories. Certainly in travels even to a place like Vancouver where we launched Aurora Capital of the World campaign months ago, I ran into a couple of young people who had left the Northwest Territories and were working in Vancouver. We need to try to get these young folks back to the Northwest Territories. I think all Members can help in that effort. If you know of young people in the South and try to connect them to opportunities here in the Northwest Territories, that’s something all of us should be doing.

Also, work continues on getting...