Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, yesterday a potentially dangerous situation developed in my constituency. A troubled individual barricaded himself in a residence, threatened the police, threatened to kill himself and could have endangered the public. The RCMP emergency response team, under Inspector Al McIntyre, and a tactical team led by Staff Sergeant Grundy mobilized and were on site in 37 minutes. They secured the area, evacuated people who might be in danger, set up a communication line and started negotiations immediately. Negotiations were successful and the individual was taken into custody with no harm done to the public, the police or to the individual.
Madam Speaker, across the country and in the north, these types of incidents are becoming more common. It is becoming increasingly important that well-trained, well-equipped RCMP teams are available to respond to these types of situations. A well-trained police team, as was demonstrated yesterday, is able to protect the public, minimize risk to themselves, and are able to take the time to negotiate a peaceful solution to dangerous problems posed by such troubled individuals.
These incidence don't only happen in large communities, they can happen in any community in the Northwest Territories. We have to ensure that the police have adequate manpower, training and equipment to the job we've entrusted to them. I offer our congratulations to the RCMP emergency response team who handled a potentially dangerous situation in a professional and efficient manner. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
---Applause