Mr. Speaker, I have met with the R.C.M.P. executive here, shortly after I was appointed as the Minister. I had one good talk with them. This statement, I just found out about it, the same as the Member, through the C.B.C. this morning. We have not ironed out our communication yet, but, hopefully, we will improve on it.
The Government of the Northwest Territories has worked jointly with the R.C.M.P., for some time, in looking at flushing out a proposal that would look at setting up a reserve R.C.M.P. force in communities in the Northwest Territories to assist R.C.M.P. in carrying out their duties. This has been submitted to the Solicitor General in Ottawa. The expectation is much as C.B.C. reported, it would help the R.C.M.P. in carrying out their duties in communities, it would assist communities in taking on more responsibility, and developing a sense of ownership. Where the policing function that is carried out now solely by the R.C.M.P., that it would be a volunteer force, probably in tradition of the north, there would be some small per diem paid, some small fee paid for the work. There would probably be a uniform and something like firearms training, and other types of training, that would be provided by the R.C.M.P. themselves. That is about the extent of the information that I had, as well. Thank you.