Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is currently working on safer communities and neighbourhoods legislation. Can the Minister say what stage of development this legislation is in and when residents can expect the bill to be introduced? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so the current status of the SCAN legislation is -- you know, the plan is to have it, along with the Trespass Act and a Civil Forfeiture Act, go out to have the LP ready in the summer of 2025 and go out to public engagement in the fall of 2025, have the What We Heard report completed and with the current plan to advance the bill in the summer of 2026.
Now, having said that, as I indicated with the question from the other Member regarding the Trespass Act, I did reach out to the department and ask for the opportunities to see what the potential escalated or advanced timeline could be on this piece of legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've heard that one aspect of SCAN would allow for evicting people suspected of drug dealing from homes. A recent Yukon Supreme Court decision struck down this section of the SCAN Act as unconstitutional. How has this affected the government's work on SCAN legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this really does -- this question really speaks to the complexity of SCAN. You know, SCAN did come to this House previously, and I think, you know, as we looked at going through and redoing the SCAN legislation, a big part of that was ensuring that, you know, there was a detailed policy and legal analysis done to ensure that, you know, what was brought forward is appropriate for the NWT, it was sound legally, and in line with our jurisdictional best practices, you know. And certainly looking at the Yukon Supreme Court decision on how that would potentially impact SCAN legislation in the Northwest Territories is a big part of the work that goes on within the department to, again, ensure that what we put forward is, you know, sound from a legal perspective. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to ensuring consultation on this legislation is done as soon as possible and introduced as quickly as possible for the safety of the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly have, you know, a very similar sentiment to all of the Members in this House in that we really do realize the impact that drugs and crime are having on communities across the NWT. And since becoming the Minister, it's certainly been my priority to work diligently with all involved communities, Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, and members of the public, to ensure that we are moving this as quickly as possible. So right now, the community consultation is scheduled for the fall but similar to my earlier answer, I am waiting for a response back from the department to see if there's an opportunity to escalate that, provided we have adequate resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
