Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, want to commend the work of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures. This committee has met extensively throughout the life of this Assembly, and has had many meetings on many matters that have been brought before it, and they have helped clarify everything from our code of conduct, guidelines, to the Mid-Term Review, and ultimately this is the last large piece of work that they have undertaken, and it was a substantial piece of work.

I also want to mention the Chief Electoral Officer has brought forward a very substantial work on her own initiative, and it...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Minister of Justice was answering some questions and mentioned that he was not sure how many training positions there are with the correctional service, but he was sure there were enough. I did some research between then and now. There are two positions; one at the facility, one at the headquarters. They are both staffed by the same person. I want to ask the Minister now if he thinks one person to coordinate, plan, and execute all the training for 350 probation and correction officers is sufficient. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am still a bit confused about this. Who is currently providing recreation to the inmates, and what kind of training have they received, if any?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Justice some questions on these inmate concerns and also correctional concerns for the facility. On October 12th, the Minister sent the honourable Members of this House an e-mail that indicated the inmate concerns were inaccurate. A week later, the deputy minister of the Department of Justice went into the press and confirmed that some of these concerns were, in fact, accurate. I want to ask the Minister about GED Program. He has both told us that the Adult Education Program is present and inmates can access it. His department has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has recently come to light through an unprecedented letter-writing campaign by the inmates of the North Slave Correctional Complex that things are very wrong with our correctional system. A number of my honourable colleagues have spoken about this already today, and I think it is important we shed light on this because it is an area of public interest. The foundation of our justice system has always been based on rehabilitation and giving Northerners a second chance after they take responsibility for their actions. However, inmates are now telling us it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move the consideration of Tabled Document 1-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 1-18(3) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On this specific bridge project, I know that this is an area of interest for a number of businesses, northern-owned and operated businesses in my riding. I'm interested to know if this future project will have opportunities for local procurement of northern businesses before I place my confidence and my vote in this appropriation, that that is something that is possible for the future bridge project. Thank you.

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...