Thank you. This is the first time we are hearing this type of comparison. It might be a useful exercise to do. Just initially reacting to the suggestion is where do you start? There are different cases. They are not all the same cases. They are all different. How do you start comparing it? That is the reason that the only commitment I would like to make here, on initially listening to this first-time request, is to allow us at Justice to look into it to see how we could do it and maybe we could take it from there. I cannot really make a commitment right now to say, "Yes, we are going to do it", without really understanding the amount of work that it might involve and what we might have to look at. It seems like a pretty huge task to have to do it for your communities or for all the cases. When do we start? Last year? Now? This is the reason I am curious about this. You have to allow us to examine your suggestion and we will take it from there. Thank you.

Yes, the Department of Justice is fully aware of this concern. A lot of dissatisfaction is expressed with the ability of the Maintenance Enforcement Program to collect support for children that is ordered by the courts.

The department is working hard to try to ensure that families and children receive the support payments. That has to be done on a timely manner. There has been a lot of work done by the department to look at trying to improve the efficiency and communication with the clients. We have to look at the maintenance enforcement legislation within the Northwest Territories.

We have to review that and improve it. That is one thing that we have to do in that area. Obviously, there are some shortfalls and shortcomings in that area. We do everything we can to try to enforce the court orders to provide timely payments. In some cases, we are not very successful, but in many cases we are. We have to look at that. There are administrative processes and procedures and practices in the maintenance enforcement office that we have to review as well. Perhaps there are areas in the actual administration program that could improve. We are working hard to try to use the existing legislation. At the same time, perhaps we have to look at the legislation that provides for that and see what we can improve in that area. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Braden

Minister Antoine.

Thank you. It is a very good question. We are experiencing what the honourable Member is saying in some of the communities that have experienced some renewed economic activity as a result of resource development, whether it be diamonds or gas exploration in Fort Liard or more exploration up in the Delta. There is definitely a link between social problems as well as an increase to resource development. If there are more dollars in the communities, there is more change in people's dreams. It is a new type of problem that we are facing. It is linked to economic development. It is a byproduct of it. The problem has always been there, but it is just more enhanced with more activity in that area because of more wealth in people's pockets. I think that is one thing that we have to address.

This department is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. There are crime prevention programs with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that we are directly involved with at the Department of Justice. I think we need to do more work inter-departmentally with the social envelope to try to identify where these problems may arise, with the knowledge we have of where this resource development is going to be occurring in relation to where the communities are and the people who are working on these projects. We heard that from different leaders. We heard from the Dogrib leaders that there are social problems as a result of activity in the diamond areas. We know that in Fort Liard, there are increased problems directly related to the increased economic activity. We need to look at that and we need to address that. In terms of what kind of leadership this department has demonstrated in a joint effort, I will say it right now, off hand, that we have worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to develop these programs.

Thank you. Mr. Braden.

Thank you. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we do not have any specific examples of if that is happening with different employers. I personally do not have any information regarding whether or not different employers are involved in this area here in trying to be socially conscious and trying to recognize that there are additional problems as a result of the increase in benefits and economic development to people in the small communities. It has a direct relation to increased social problems. I think I am not too familiar with that area. I have never gotten into that discussion, but I am familiar in Fort Liard that in the gas development, the band itself is a major employer of its own people to do the work. The gas fields has its own programs to deal with the social side of things and I think the companies that are involved have also contributed to alcohol and drugs and community activities that are trying to promote dealing with the social problems that come out of it.

They are attempting to work in that area. It is really up to the different communities. In Fort Liard is up to the community leadership. They try to deal with it for themselves. We, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, are not really directly involved in it. We want to ensure that it happens, but monitoring is really left up to the individual communities or organizations that have these agreements. Certainly that is one area in this developing area that is something new that we are getting involved with. We know that there is a relationship between additional social problems as a result of alcohol and drug problems and violence problems. Perhaps more incarceration like the example the honourable Member had earlier on in his remarks. It is certainly something new that is worth investigating and perhaps finding a way to try to address it, because it is something new that we have to deal with. Thank you.

Thank you. General comments. Mr. Delorey.

Thank you. Minister Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there was a cost benefit analysis of this when this decision was originally made to provide a new correctional facility here in Yellowknife for young offenders. The information I recall on the analysis was that in Hay River, there continues to be an open custody facility there with the Dene K'Onia facilities. It is going to have a number of beds. I believe there are going to be about eight beds in the open custody facility left in Hay River.

This analysis was done some time ago. It still exists within the information of the Department of Justice. For the exact detail of what the costs are going to be, the number of positions that are going to be affected, I do not have this detailed information right here with us. They have it in the department, and I will get that information and provide it to the honourable Member as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine.

There are many different scenarios that we looked at and it included the need for a young offenders' facility here in Yellowknife because of the number of court cases and hearings that dealt with young offenders here in Yellowknife, which is quite a few of them. We dealt with where the young offenders were coming from and also deal with the closing down of the open custody facility here in Yellowknife. So there was a whole series of different scenarios that were part of that cost analysis, including the cost of replacing the facility in Hay River and the cost of building the facility here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey.