Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I support this motion. In fact, it was in my electoral platform that this was a change that I thought would be beneficial. Over the course of the election, I spoke to many residents of Kam Lake who had just moved to the riding. Kam Lake is a community on the grow, and some people were not able to vote because they did not meet that 12-month threshold. It is a curious thing that the three northern jurisdictions have a year-long residency that is required. I was just reading in the press the other day that there was a candidate in Nunavut who sought to run in the previous...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we have the best public servants in the world and the best correctional officers in the world. They have great relationships with the inmates. It is when the situation goes wrong that you need to prepare for contingencies. I will leave that with the Minister and ask my final question: I have heard reports that officers are being sent home on the basis of the tension level of the building.

Essentially, managers are being told to eyeball the building and judge whether or not it is a tense night or tense evening or tense day and sending people home early to cut back...

I agree with the Minister. We have the best public servants in Canada, and certainly, they are up to the task. I just think it is unfortunate that this Minister is asking one individual to take so much on. I will take his commitment. There are a few other things I would like him to look into. Apparently at the facility itself, when recreation time is given, they will take one of the officers off the job to go and deal with direct duties, leaving one officer behind to handle 30-plus inmates. Is the Minister aware of issues like that that may be compromising the safety of officers who are doing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I have heard through sources is that is not, in fact, true, that no additional training has been offered and, in fact, that the training manager position that was created to assist in the Auditor General's recommendations that increased training be offered to the correctional service has been cut, as well. I would like to ask the Minister: how many training officers are currently in the correctional service and what training programs are they offering to our correctional officers? Thank you.

I would like to thank the Minister for setting the record straight. It can be very confusing when we have two different narratives emerging out there when we are trying to help people with their issues. Mr. Speaker, the Minister also said no programs or staff positions have been cut in his e-mail, yet we have heard that recreation positions have been cut and that recreation is not currently being offered. Can the Minister set the record straight on that? Have there been cuts to recreation programs and positions in the Department of Justice?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize my friend Corporal April Bell of the RCMP. Thank you for your service, Corporal. Also my constituent Deneze Nakehk'o, who has done great work with Dene Nahjo. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that that's the Minister's aspiration, but all too often do we see these projects do not have an opportunity for involvement from northern owned and operated businesses, especially the small players. I've been through a few of these processes now and, again, I hear the same concerns from my constituents, no matter how much money we spend on infrastructure it doesn't seem to create local economic opportunities.

Can the Minister give me anything more than just kind of an aspirational statement that in the future everyone is going to benefit from this? Is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members of the 18th Assembly made transparency and accountability a fundamental principle of our four-year term. Together, we developed the public accountability process in the form of a Mid-Term Review. This process was not perfect. It was designed to be fair, issue-based, and open to the public. The review was in place for close to a year. Although government Members were critical of this Mid-Term Review and in fact voted against establishing it, at no point did they refuse to participate in the process.

This motion today is the outcome of that Mid-Term...

The Member does wish it, and I will look forward to the Minister reporting back, or his department. Another concern I will share with the Minister today is that currently the emergency response team at the jail is not a dedicated unit. In other facilities, it is a dedicated unit. They receive two-week intensive training. They are equipped with a full range of security gear, including specialized non-lethal weaponry that allows them to control these situations. None of that is present at our facility. There is not a dedicated emergency response team. Will the Minister look into emergency...