Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, this is one area that our department is focusing on: those without detachments. We will certainly work on a schedule. We do have schedules in place for visits from the regional centres to communities without detachments.

Also, the Member talked about possibly options of overnighting. We need to work with the communities in finding suitable accommodation for officers to be in a safe environment in the communities. So we are continuing to work with the communities to identify those accommodations.

Also, the Member brought up a good point about building relationships. That is one of...

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce that the new RCMP detachment is now open in Sachs Harbour. This has been a priority of both this and previous governments for many years and has finally become a reality. A corporal and constable are now in the community providing full-time policing services. They will be able to respond immediately to any situations that arise and will work on crime prevention activities with community members.

The detachment in Sachs Harbour was closed in 1992 due to resource issues. Since then officers from Inuvik have provided regular patrols and responded to emergencies...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I have with me here today to introduce Bill 4 Mark Aitken, director of the legislation division.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The purpose of the bill — Bill 4, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2008 — is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed, or errors or inconsistencies have been identified.

Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

It must not be controversial;

It must not involve the spending of public funds;

It must not prejudicially affect rights; and

It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the various statutes being amended have...

Mr. Speaker, when I met with the federal minister and the provincial ministers last fall in Winnipeg, one of the discussions was potential changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They are seeking our input, from all jurisdictions, and I do believe that review of the input will be starting this summer, late fall. It could change. There are a lot of concerns in that area, so we’ll certainly provide our input to deal with those issues.

Mr. Speaker, if the report comes out stating that the building still could be utilized for a number of years, then we can certainly utilize the building, whether it be for program delivery.... We are looking at options for that particular building, and we are going through some stages here. What we propose here is part of the Arctic Tern plans, but there are other options that may be fully utilized in that facility.

Mr. Speaker, there is a review that’s been undertaken, and that review should be completed sometime early next month, I do believe. Once we have that package, then we can certainly discuss it with the Member.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Member for inviting me to tour the facility. At this time we do have our department staff and our Aurora College staff, and possibly the chairpersons, visiting the facility. I want them to see what kind of facility there is there. So from there, we can talk about the process.

Certainly, the Member wants to push this forward, but we need to sit down and develop plans. We need to work with the industries as well. It has to be based on the needs of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the area of special constables in community policing has been addressed by my department. I met with the commissioner of the RCMP just last month. We just had an initial discussion of trying to find out where the status was with aboriginal policing in the communities. I was told, at that time, that news will be coming this summer — late summer or early fall — and that there will be an announcement from the federal government.

Currently they are looking at options of reintroducing community policing, whether it be the special constables…. They’re still working out the logistics on...