Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Total department, negative $2,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Page 12, Justice. Operations and maintenance, law enforcement, special warrants, $105,000. Mr. Ballantyne.

Mr. Chairman, the whole issue of support for the RCMP has been front and centre in the House for a while. It seems this particular project has some possibilities in other places in the territories. My question to the Minister is, do we at least have a preliminary evaluation of how this project has been able to assist the RCMP in the two communities where it is being carried out?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, this project is a pilot project. It is designed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of developing and implementing a force of community constables of aboriginal residence in remote communities in the Northwest Territories. Those people, we would hope, would assist the police in the provision of policing services in cases of emergency or because there is additional workload or some situation that warrants their attendance.

The Department of Justice will be reviewing these two pilot projects in the two communities to assess their effectiveness, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister of Justice is quite high on this particular program. He believes it is going to work, but we will wait until we've had it assessed to see what, if any, changes need to be made or if there needs to be adjustments, and where we can expand it to next, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have said a number of times in the House that I think there is some immediate need. Though I fully support these long-term efforts

to try to deal with the problem, I think we really have the need to do something in the interim. I heard the Minister of Justice say that it will probably be addressed in the budget session. As I'm not privy to exactly what will be in the budget, I really hope there are really significant attempts to try to deal with the shortfall of policing resources.

I would like to ask the Minister, because of the obvious immediate need, has any thought been giving to perhaps moving ahead the evaluation process and making this type of approach available in other communities in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the federal government is our partner in the evaluation. I'll pass on to the Minister the suggestion from the Member that perhaps this evaluation could be speeded up. I'm sure he'll discuss it with the federal government to see if that, in fact, can be done. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Law enforcement, Mr. Ballantyne.

I appreciate that response from the Minister. There are a number of efforts being made right now to try to deal with an obvious need as far as our policing capability. This is one and the Minister said he will look to see if this type of project can be available in other communities. The other obvious need is the police are really overwhelmed by paperwork right across the territories. A lot of highly-trained police officers spend a lot of their efforts doing clerical work, and they're not on the beat, which is where we really need their expertise.

As another possibility, would the Minister consider, at least until we've been able to deal with the long-term problem, making available -- maybe in conjunction with municipalities -- that sort of clerical support service, which would free up more time for police officers to be out on the beat? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. The honourable Minister.

Mr. Chairman, it is certainly an innovative approach and, as we move in a world of shrinking financial resources, perhaps that is a suggestion that could be made to communities. If they want to cooperate with the police, perhaps there could be some joining of forces to assist in administrative procedures. It is a good idea, and something we could explore with the RCMP. I don't know if the RCMP would come back and say they have certain confidentiality rules, et cetera. I don't know if they would say that, but I certainly will make that suggestion to the Minister of Justice.

I would point out to Mr. Ballantyne that, as I think he already knows, the RCMP are already looking at ways to reduce the administrative burden upon their people, especially in the smaller detachments. Maybe they can regionalize that administrative function. Perhaps we can work along with them to see what will happen with regard to community's participating. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Law enforcement, special warrants, $105,000. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. This community constable pilot project is a three-year pilot project. I just wanted to ask the Minister why we are seeing it in the supp, if it's a three-year program, and not in the O and M estimates we get during the winter session. Thank you.

Mahsi. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, this is a cost-shared project, 52 per cent federal government and 48 per cent ourselves. Negotiations have not reached the stage, at the time we brought down the last O and M budget, where we could say it was an arrangement between Canada and the GNWT and we could effectively put it in the budget. That is why it is showing up as a supp this year, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you. Law enforcement, special warrants, $105,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Qujannamiik. Not previously authorized, $210,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Qujannamiik. Not previously authorized, $210,000.