Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I have spoken to Chief Superintendent
Summerfield about the issue of drugs in the Northwest Territories. Much of our discussion in the past year has been about working with the federal government to make sure that all of the federal positions are filled in the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories is responding to the resourcing request that has been put in by the RCMP and some of that is in this year's budget. I am hoping to follow through and complete the numbers that they have requested in next year's budget. I have talked to the Standing Committee on Social Programs about how that will be coming forward in the business plans.
Mr. Speaker, all three of the highway traffic resources that are included in this year's budget proposal will be, I have been assured, cross-trained by a program called Pipeline, which the RCMP says makes them as effective or more effective in dealing with drugs, particularly since they will be working on the highway that brings most of the drugs into the southern part of the NWT.
We have also worked with the RCMP to make sure that in this year's resource allocation, there is funding for a dog. The dog will be cross-trained and will also be used for drugs and will be used in different areas. As I said, there are other plans that are afoot that I have been assured by the RCMP, but they have not shared the details with me because they don't want them to become public. Thank you.