This is page numbers 1 - 18 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was games.

Further Return To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 8

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I suspect that there is overall equity right now, if you take into account the amount of subsidy that is paid to support the apprentices through their work throughout the year. This government contributes a significant amount of money to providing salaries to the apprentices while they're working. One of the advantages you have in the apprenticeship program is that generally you get through that program without thousands and thousands of dollars of student debt, which is unlike post-secondary programs for university students. Right now somebody can come out after four years of university and owe this government $40,000 to $60,000 that they have to pay back over a number of years. For apprentices that's not usually the case, and that is a big difference. I think that has to be factored in as to whether or not there is equity in the current program.

I would certainly be willing to take a look at the program and work with my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Social Programs to ensure that there is, in fact, equity between post-secondary supports and apprenticeship. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 8

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

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David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't going to ask this one additional question, but I'll rise and ask one more question. How many apprenticeship officers does this government have to service the residents of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

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The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Mr. Speaker, I can't answer that question at this time. I don't know exactly how many staff, but I know that, for instance, in the North Slave region, there is one officer supported by five staff in the career centre, who can also provide services to people in apprenticeship programs. That's typically the way it is done; the support is provided through the career centres in the Northwest Territories. I will have to commit to getting the Member the specific numbers at a later date. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Question 2-15(3): Trades And Apprenticeship Challenges
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Ontario was the first province in Canada to create and implement legislation that established and maintained a sex offender registry. The act, named Christopher's Law, was proclaimed on April 23, 2001; named after an 11-year-old boy, Christopher Stevens, who was killed by a previously-convicted pedophile. Since there was no sign of a federal strategy to implement such a program, Ontario proactively and independently, to protect their citizens, developed their own registry.

Headlining in the territorial News/North paper, there was a story of a girl who was attacked in Yellowknife by a convicted sex offender. The attacker was on probation for only 11 days before his next assault. Six days later, he was picked up by the RCMP for being drunk in public, and released. Three days later, the offender sexually assaulted someone else. He only was later identified to police by someone who knew him.

Mr. Speaker, this leads me to my question for the Honourable Minister of Justice, Charles Dent. Does the Minister agree that a sex offender registry could have helped and played a role in this particular case to aid the RCMP to flag this person as a previous sex offender, to help solve sex crimes in Yellowknife and all of the communities in the NWT?

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Mr. Speaker, that's a hypothetical question that I'm having trouble answering. I'm not sure if it would have helped. It's clearly a regrettable situation that happened, but I'm not sure whether or not a sex offender registry in the Northwest Territories would have helped to identify this person. In this situation, the question as to whether or not to identify this person would have been made, I think, by the parole system as to whether or not he was qualified to be released. The situation was that under the terms and conditions of his release order, there was no specific order about how he should be supervised. The parole staff were, in fact, going above and beyond what had been ordered to supervise the person, but there wasn't really anything that had been set out by the parole board or the courts in terms of what should have been done to supervise him. So I'm not sure how that necessarily would have worked. I can certainly take a look at what the options are for setting up such a registry. I'm not certain how the NWT would be able to operate such a service, but I would be prepared to look into it. Thank you.

Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

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The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

March 15th, 2004

Page 9

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for answering that question. Then in this case, Mr. Speaker, I would like to further draw attention that on September 6, 2001, the Ontario Conservative Government offered their $2 million software at no cost to any other government in Canada that wished to use it. Noting that this software is free from Ontario, would the Minister be willing to investigate the potential of accessing this free software database program for the Northwest Territories?

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would certainly take a look at it.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you again, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister, for offering that. Mr. Minister, would you also be further willing to supply information to all Members of the Legislative Assembly, noting reoffender rates of sex crimes for the last 10 years in the NWT, and if this could be linked to offence locations in correlation to their home location, and further out-of-province offenders who commit crimes in the Northwest Territories, and would you bring that forward to all Members of the Legislative Assembly?

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

The question is sort of bordering on another question. It sounds like you're beyond the original question that you raised, but I will ask the Minister if he would like to respond. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure that I really understand what the Member is looking for and maybe I could ask him to restate it, if that would be acceptable.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Final supplementary.

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 9

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a point, due to shortness, I tried to summarize my preamble into my next question. Essentially, I'm asking if the Minister would supply us with information, a database that we could work with to see offences committed in the Northwest Territories, so we could recognize the potential usefulness of a database that would note sex offenders. Therefore, we would note reoccurrence of sex offenders in the Northwest Territories, as well as potential offenders who have offended in the Northwest Territories who are

not Northwest Territories citizens. Therefore, I'm looking for 10 years of data of offenders who reoffend. Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 10

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Minister of Justice.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 10

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know how you identify potential offenders in a document. I would certainly be prepared to examine what information is available on charges that have been laid and on convictions that have been laid, and provide that sort of numerical data. But in terms of privacy concerns, until somebody is convicted I can't see how we can provide much information.

Again, I am prepared to work with Members here to provide them what we can, but there will be some limitations on what is publicly available.

Further Return To Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Question 3-15(3): Registry Of Sex Offenders
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 10

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Item 6, oral questions. Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are following up on the Member's statement that I made, and they also relate to the questions that have been asked by Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Speaker, as I'm listening to the Minister, I'm going to say I'm very surprised by the apparent lack of consideration that the Minister has given to this issue. I would think that, as Minister of Justice and as the Solicitor General in charge of crime prevention or safety, he would have given more thought to how this could have happened and what we could do to prevent that from happening.

Mr. Speaker, that predatory youth sex offender, I'm sure, is an exception rather than the rule, but this young man is a very dangerous guy. He's had a long record of sexual offences and he's had reports from probation officers that said clearly that he was likely to offend and that he is calculating and predatory. So I would like to know what the Minister has done in terms of learning about this case, and has he given any thought as to what he could do within his power to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker David Krutko

Minister of Justice.

Return To Question 4-15(3): Rising Crime Rate And Public Protection
Question 4-15(3): Rising Crime Rate And Public Protection
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 10

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of the two young people is a very incredible situation, and it's certainly horrible for the young people and their families. I am terribly sympathetic to that, but I have an issue here where there's a person who has been charged with an offence. It's an alleged offence and for the Minister of Justice to be talking about a case while it's before the courts is completely wrong.

So I can speak in general about the issue of what we're trying to do about crime in the Northwest Territories. I have met with the chief superintendent of the RCMP and discussed with him the issues that we face with crime in the Northwest Territories. The Member raised some of the issues about the increase in the amount of crime. It's not just in Yellowknife; it's all across the Northwest Territories. We have the second-highest crime rate in Canada. It is an issue of concern to me.

One of the ways we're hoping to address that is to respond to the RCMP's business plan which called for an increase in the number of officers, and hopefully we will be able to see through that some way to address it. Not only that, but the department has funded one RCMP position to work in the city of Yellowknife with agencies like the Community Wellness Coalition to help deal with issues of public safety. There are a number of different programs that are active in the community. The Citizens on Patrol program is going to be in operation fairly soon; there are a number of other ones.

Members can be assured that I am very concerned about the crime rates in the Northwest Territories. I can't speak specifically about any one case that's currently before the courts though. I will do my best to make sure that we can address the issue of the rising crime rate.