Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll just say that this bill has been a long time coming. There have been a lot of people through the years who have worked to see it come to this point.

It's true that this one only applies to the vehicles on the highways. We did have serious problems with off-road vehicles and boats. In the case of all-terrain vehicles, we don't administer any kind of licensing programs so we don't have the means to do the same thing. But that will not deter us from continuing to look at this issue over the years. With boats we don't yet have the jurisdiction for that, so I suppose that will come at some time.

In many cases, the Criminal Code certainly applies in those situations and it should be a deterrent. But I think the most important thing is going to be continuing education, that we don't operate motor vehicles and drink. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. The chair will recognize Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this bill is very difficult to argue against. I think it's everybody's desire to reduce impaired driving across the North. I have to applaud the efforts of the department, however, I think it's taking the easy way out. Right from the time we were elected, I think just about every MLA here has recognized the fact that we need more resources in terms of policing. We've raised it from the small communities' perspective; the larger centres including Yellowknife have raised it. It's been in the papers. We have legislation in place now that we can't enforce. Any time you're in a small community, try to call an RCMP officer. You're going to get a recording from Yellowknife. I think that should have been taken into consideration. It's easier to pass new legislation than it is to provide adequate resources.

I represent four communities. Three of them have no RCMP officers. We don't have any programs in place for policing in the smaller communities. There's no community constable program, it's just a title. We train people; there's no money to hire them. So we should be looking at how we're going to enforce this, because we have legislation now we can't enforce. Almost every community in my riding has no equipment to do breathalyzers. So I mean we should be taking a closer look.

I'd like to see in five years the stats that show that this is going to make a big difference because, if we can't enforce the legislation we have now, how can we enforce this one? I think there has to be a review. If this is one mechanism that will help, I can't vote against it, but I think the bigger picture has to be looked at, a holistic approach has to be taken. So my comment to the Minister is we just looked at a small piece of it. I'm not a great believer that it's going to make a whole lot of difference. I'd like to ask the Minister what's the next step. Are we going to see more police officers in the communities? Are we going to see more resources for community constable programs? Are we going to see aboriginal policing programs, training programs, or are we just going to pass legislation then walk away and say hey, we did a good job? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, certainly this piece of legislation by itself is not going to solve all of the problems and stop people from drinking and driving altogether, but it is one more tool, it's one more way of decreasing it. The information we have from other jurisdictions is that this does work, and they have not necessarily had to increase the number of police in their communities in order to do that.

I've already committed -- as I said in my opening comments -- to working closely with the Department of Justice and the Minister of Justice to make sure that we do have a strategy in place that's going to help us be able to enforce this. The RCMP themselves, or the policing in the Northwest Territories, have told us that yes, this will help them in carrying out their jobs. They have made the commitment to do whatever they can to buy the equipment that's necessary out of their existing resources. If they need more, then I'm sure the Minister of Justice and I can talk about making sure they have the equipment. When it comes to policing in other communities and communities where they just don't have adequate resources or don't have any police at all, this legislation should spur us on to try to resolve those problems and I intend to work closely with Minister Allen in resolving those. But this alone Mr. Chairman, I admit, will not do everything, but I think it's a big step. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. The chair will recognize Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, feel that this is great legislation, but I, too, also have the same concerns of Mr. McLeod. I feel that we have to also have the tools in place to enforce our legislation, especially where we find out that the majority of our communities in the Northwest Territories don't even have breathalyzer equipment. Also in regards to having the resources to put into the policing or the enforcement of the legislation by having highway patrols or road checks or other means of trying to catch those people who are impaired on our highway systems, our road systems in the Northwest Territories. Mr. McLeod is right. In every community after 2:00 in the morning there is no policing in our communities. In order for that to happen, you have to call Yellowknife through an automated system and then hopefully you get the message through. By that time, the incident has occurred.

But I think we have to find ways of avoiding a number of deaths and incidents we have seen on our highway system because of people being impaired, also in our communities where we've had some major accidents involving snowmobiles. I think that we as a Legislative Assembly have to do more than just pass legislation. We also have to direct people that are going to use that legislation to ensure they have the resources and they have the equipment to do the job we're asking them to do.

I feel that we pass legislation time and time again with great intentions. But if the legislation is not going to be used because of a lack of equipment, such as breathalyzers or other means of increasing our patrols on our highway systems or increasing the patrols on our road systems in our communities so that we can catch these people, then we will have to do more than just pass legislation.

As for the Minister, I know he's made the comment that he's been talking to the Minister of Justice, but I think that we have to realize that there are communities out there, and the communities I represent such as Tsiigehtchic that is on the highway system and is a prohibition community. We have legislation that allows a community to ask to have prohibition where no alcohol is allowed. Yet, the RCMP are not enforcing that legislation and it is the legislation of this government. I think it is important as a government that when we pass legislation we ensure that it meets the original objectives.

So, I would like to ask the Minister exactly, is there a means or way that we can look at the budgeted amount of dollars that we spend on policing and direct some of those dollars to enforcement of this type of legislation? Has the government ever looked at that?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister Handley.

Mr. Chairman, as I said before, I undertake to work closely with the Minister of Justice on the kinds of issues that Mr. Krutko is raising. They are serious issues and I think they are important ones in us being able to enforce this legislation and, in fact, all the legislation that we have. We will have done in passing this legislation step one, and we are not going to stop there. We need to continue to have a system that is whole. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Just another area I would like to ask the Minister about is how do we ensure that we have the equipment to catch people who are impaired, things such as breathalysers. We heard from the RCMP during the briefing that they do not have this equipment throughout the Northwest Territories. I would like to know, are there going to be dollars set aside to ensure that we have the equipment so that the RCMP or other agencies can enforce the legislation? I would like to ask the Minister if this government can ensure that all the equipment necessary to enforce this legislation is in place for the people that will have to enforce it?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister Handley.

Mr. Chairman, the police have committed publicly in support of this bill to try to find from within their resources the money to buy the equipment that is necessary. If we find, as we implement this legislation, that that just is not doable then I am sure that the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Justice of the day will make sure that they have the resources to do it. Our intention is certainly to work with the Department of Justice and the police to make sure we can get the equipment that is necessary.

Thank you, Minister Handley. The chair will recognize Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to make a few comments in support of this legislation. I understand and appreciate that there are lots of other issues that are not being addressed with this and I must agree, with the lack of RCMP services in many areas and the City of Yellowknife, that opens up a whole new debate. The shortage of RCMP and its implication to this bill was also addressed in the committee's report.

Having been a member of this committee that reviewed the bill, I concur with the points made in the report and I do not want to repeat all of the statements made in the committee report and by the other Members around the table here. I think that, regardless of shortages or shortfalls, this is a great piece of legislative work. It is very progressive and advanced in comparison to similar law in other jurisdictions and we should be proud of making it come to reality.

Mr. Minister mentioned earlier about the long time that it has taken for this bill to get to where it is now and it has been so long that we have had whole different sets of SADD members coming and making presentations to us because some of them probably started and graduated from high school. I think it is high time that we did this.

I would also just like to mention again our appreciation for the people who appeared before us. The organization of SADD, who has been a major force behind this initiative, has appeared before us many times. We also had the help of the Northwest Territories Coroner's Office and the RCMP and the Salvation Army, and I really want to express my appreciation again for their work. So, I am not going to say much more than that, Mr. Chairman. I support this legislation and I would like to thank the Minister and the department for working on it and seeing it through. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. No questions there. General comments. Detail.

Detail

Okay, in your grey binders we have Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act. Clause 1.

Clause 2.

Clause 3.

Clause 4.

Clause 5.