Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I actually wanted to deal with a different topic on this particular page, and I have a motion to go with the issue that I wanted to discuss. So if there are other Members who still want to partake in a discussion on this matter, I’ll defer.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, today I’d like to talk about something that is a pet peeve of mine. I don’t know if anybody’s ever seen those pet peeve surveys, but this is a pet peeve of mine. I was reminded of it when Ms. Lee was giving her Member’s statement on cigarettes, on smoking.

Mr. Speaker, there’s only one thing that amazes me more than the fact that people smoke, and that is the number of smokers who throw their cigarette butts on the ground. Most people understand that littering is not a good thing. We teach our kids that they shouldn’t toss litter out the car window and they shouldn’t...

I’m going to be supporting the motion. And as usual, I’ll be very brief here.

I’m going to be checking the unedited Hansard for Mr. Miltenberger’s comments. He brought up a capital project in my community, referred to as the supported assisted living facility — as yet to be built — wondering if it should be profiled. Mr. Chairman, when I read the unedited Hansard, if I consider that a threat to a capital project from a Minister in my riding, I’ll be raising a point of order.

I’ll be supporting this motion. Thank you.

A while back, when the remand facility at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre was closed, there were five positions identified for elimination but only through attrition. I’d like to know: are we still on about that, or has that been taken care of? Have enough people left to accommodate that commitment that was made at that time? I just want to make sure, with these retirements that are coming up or people who are voluntarily leaving or retiring, that those don’t somehow get categorized as those attrition positions that were kind of left over from when the remand operation shut down.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the motion, which is to recommend that the government reinstate the $109,000 for any proposed reductions to nursing services at the North Slave Correctional Centre and the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, I would like to say that I believe these are important services, and they are there to ensure that the corrections officers are not having to extend their time dealing with health issues. I think that the funding for them should be reinstated.

Our motion is premised on information that we received from the Department of Justice. If that information has changed...

Why was the position vacant? How long has it been vacant, and why was it vacant?

Can the Minister please tell me: what is the anticipated savings from the elimination of the vacant position at the North Slave Correctional Centre?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had a couple of questions also on the nursing support services for the North Slave Correctional Centre but also for the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre. There is a proposal to reduce funding for these functions by the amount of $109,000. I have heard now that for North Slave it will be the elimination of a vacant position at the North Slave Correctional Centre. What is proposed to be eliminated in terms of service or people in the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the wish of the committee today is to proceed with the Main Estimates for the Department of Justice.

Mr. Chairman, I’d like to move a motion that we report progress, please.