Jackson Lafferty

Masi, Mr. Chair. What I am trying to get at is those communities that do not have detachments, how do we restrain those individuals who get in trouble? I see first-hand in Gameti, they have a restraining chair in one of the offices at the community government offices; it's just a small room. What if we had, like, five of them, five individuals who are making trouble in the community? We only have two officers who every now and then come and visit the community of Gameti. I am just more concerned about the safety aspects of the community. It's not just my community; there are 10 or 11...

Masi, Mr. Chair. Usually, the RCMP "G" Division would inquire or talk about recruitment process, and they want to recruit people from the communities. Obviously, that requires training, and we, as a Department of Justice, need to be proactive. Because we talk about money, we can identify funds towards that to train our own people to become full-fledged RCMP officers. We can't always say it's "G" Division, that they approve, that they have to come up with the training requirements, training funding. We have to be proactive, as the justice department, to move forward, to say we want to set the...

A lot of our communities do not have a RCMP detachment, and even my region, there are two communities that do not have an RCMP detachment. I fear for the communities, so I am glad the Minister is willing to meet with the chief commanding officer. I am hoping it's sooner than later. Winter roads are open, and all-weather road construction through Whati is happening. As soon as the Minister meets with the chief commanding officer, I would ask the Minister if she could provide the latest update on their discussion on this particular very important matter in my region.

Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] I'd like to ask a question regarding the Department of Justice. Sometimes, we are thankful to the RCMP when people are busted for drugs and that drugs don't go into the community, so we know what they are facing regarding the RCMP. I'm going to ask her a question. [End of translation]

There were several drug busts over the last few months here in the Northwest Territories, and in our communities, as well. I would like to send kudos and congratulate and also be thankful to the RCMP "G" Division for stopping these illegal drugs from entering the North.

When the...

Masi, Madam Speaker. The Minister is referring to an application-based process, and a lot of our elders obviously are struggling, sometimes because of individuals living in their household. It's based on household income, so most times, they don't qualify, unfortunately. When it comes to two weeks of cold spell, this is a very urgent matter that we need to deal with on an annual basis, to service their furnaces, especially the vulnerable elders. I've touched on Polar Ice as a contractor going to the community, on their own services. Could we have something similar to that as a pilot project in...

Again, I would like to touch on the support agencies and families to identify gaps in existing resources as part of our mandate. We know that the cost of airfare into our isolated communities is quite high across the North and my region, about three communities I represent. If any work has to be done on a senior's home in an isolated community, those travel costs are often passed on to the senior on top of the actual cost of the work involved. Are there any Housing Corporation programs specific to having a certified oil burning mechanic to visit all our communities so that they can service the...

Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] Madam Speaker, I want to talk about senior citizens. We want the best for our seniors, and that's why we are speaking up, and the Premier had just given out the priorities, and one of them is elders. Sometimes, the elders' private home furnaces don't work. We want to make people aware of that to help them. [Translation ends]

Today, I would like to walk the talk and discuss something that is very important to me, and that is carrying for our seniors in the Northwest Territories; more specifically, my region. Madam Speaker, On February 7th, the Premier tabled...

Masi, Mr. Chair. I, too, definitely agree that this should be expanded. The First Nations Policing Program has been very successful in the past, and we should be at a point of, as the Justice Department or as a government, we should be matching the GNWT "G" Division, what they offer at the table. There should be a partnership. We talk about partnership as a government, but we shouldn't just be looking to "G" Division to see if they are willing to add more funding. We should be proactive.

Mr. Chair, I only have 30 seconds of my time. One more question I have is the justice committees. Are all...

Masi, Mr. Chair. Obviously, I would like to see up-and-coming training on the "G" Division as has happened at the depot. I know there has been some in-term exposure for some northern students. Just so it happens, one of my daughters was interested, so she pursued it through her high school. She had a week, I believe it was a week or 10 days, at the depot, and obviously, she is interested now. She wants to be a cop after she gets her degree, so I think we need to do more of those areas of recruitment and promotion. I am glad the Minister is willing to sit down with the chief commanding officer...

Masi, Mr. Chair. [Translation] Regarding community justice and the RCMP, I would like to ask the Minister a question. The past couple of years, we have been advocating for Aboriginal policing, so I want to ask a question regarding that. [Translation ends]

Community justice and policing, I know that there has been training in the past because I have been involved as the Minister of Justice of the day. We have had a successful outcome training an individual to become almost a full-fledged RCMP officer, without investigation. They are from Hay River, your community. We are obviously a huge...