Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two people in the gallery. First I’d like to recognize Norman Dei, who is the father of Amanda. He is a long-time northern resident and long-time Yellowknife resident. He is a quantity surveyor for the Department of Public Works and Services. With him today is Sherry Otis. I’d also like to recognize Sherry Otis.

Mr. Speaker, the need for the programming that will be supported by the type of court, if any that are supported by this government, is something that we are working on with the Department of Health and Social Services. The committee is involved. They are working together. It is a committee of Justice, Health and Social Services. By March 31st we’ll have a better idea of exactly what programming is going to be required in order to support the different models. Until we actually choose a model, with support of committee, we won’t know exactly the programming that is needed, but we are starting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Oh, I thought you said Abernethy.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize 22 international students visiting Yellowknife as part of the Rotary Club’s Tip Toe with the Caribou program. The Rotary Club hosts exchange students from around the world for one year within Rotary District 5370, which encompasses parts of Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The students with us today drove from Edmonton, stopping in Hay River and Behchoko before arriving here for a four-day visit. They will be touring Yellowknife and experiencing all that the city has to offer, and while they’re here they’re going to...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to confirm that the Government of the Northwest Territories has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Union of Northern Workers on procedures for employees to safely disclose allegations of wrongdoing.

I want to be clear that we have always encouraged our employees to feel they could safely disclose information about illegal acts; gross mismanagement of public money or public assets; or substantial and specific dangers to health, safety or the environment. Our staff is our most valuable resource. We trust them and respect their judgment. When they suspect...

I’m not certain whether that program still exists in the Department of Justice. I don’t recall it, but it sounds like a really great idea. What I’ll do is talk to the department to see what existed in the past and whether or not something could be put in place, and I will certainly come and talk to the Member and committee to see if that’s something that we might be able to do in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These community policing plans are actually an agreement between the RCMP and the community itself. They sit down and talk about what the priorities are and set some of their direction. I can’t tell you what every community policing plan says. There are 33 of them. I do know that in some communities, the communities have indicated that education and visits to the school are a priority, and that is in some of the community policing plans.

At this time, that’s not something we’re planning, but if committee were to ask us to take a look at that, we’re always open to have discussions with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not familiar with that particular program, but I would love to sit down with the Member and have him educate me on the program. As far as funding goes, it’s hard to commit funding when I have no idea what the program is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the program starts off with a $10,000 initial payout and then $5,000 in subsequent years. Because we haven’t had all 33 communities come on at one time, they have been coming at a staggered approach, the budget that we had is, actually, we are able to use that to cover the $10,000 where a few communities start in a year and then the rest are $5,000. So we actually have enough money to maintain them. Right now, as of January 13th, we have three more communities who have indicated a desire to start a Not Us! campaign. That is Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and...