Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just reflecting over the past year-and-a-half, and justice certainly does play a big role in the Nahendeh riding, which I represent. We have six communities in my riding and it's a huge ground to cover, especially when we're talking about law enforcement. There is a lot of moving around for the members, fall-time and springtime is rather difficult because of breakup and freeze-up. Particularly in Fort Simpson and the communities that they service, one of the biggest issues this year was they were cutting one member and we fought it hard, Mr. Chair. We tried to keep that position, and perhaps the Minister can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what happened with that position was that we never actually lost the position, I think we just didn't fill it. If the Minister could confirm that to me.
I can see rather quickly too, especially with the development that is planned for our region with the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, Mr. Chair, things are starting to pick up in the region. Recently I was in Fort Simpson, last Friday, in fact, and we had the Minister of Transportation there and they had traffic counters in and around Fort Simpson. At first face it looks like traffic volumes have doubled over last year, from 600 trucks up to 1,800 trucks and it's no wonder my honourable colleague from the Sahtu is getting bounced around on the roads because things are picking up. We didn't expect that. We thought perhaps when the construction of the Mackenzie gas pipeline is planned, that the increase in traffic and the increase in the population of transients, et cetera, would happen then. But I am reminded that it happens before these developments actually happen. Directors and people wishing to take advantage of the opportunities will be coming out of the woodwork. The carpetbaggers start to come out of the woodwork and they're making their way north, Mr. Chairman, because things are already stretching. Transient centres are being called for and it's because of what is happening out there and it is a reality and it begins today.
Another thing that impacted the riding was that we lost our original justice coordinator, only because it was explained to me the role of the justice coordinator was to get the community justice circles going and underway. In fact, that's what happened, but now we've removed the community justice coordinator, but we're left with a void, Mr. Chair, because what's happening is that there is nobody there, there is no intermediary between the
justice, which is the RCMP and the courts and the community justice circles. Someone has to physically organize these meetings and get them to the meeting, create the agenda for the meetings and that gap is gone now. So I'm not too sure how helpful that is to the region. So it kind of hampers the whole concept of the community justice system. So that's something that we really have to be aware of and do something to mitigate that. I know there's a little bit of a budget for the community justice circles, but I'm not too sure if the department has done an assessment recently to say because we removed the community justice coordinator, what impact is the whole concept, the whole goal, the whole objective of the program. Can it still function without this regional coordinator role?
Another thing I wish to speak on is the Prevention Against Family Violence Act. It is something that was a long time coming, and I think it has got to be rolled out a lot better because it's still not being used out there. It changes the definition of who remains in the home and people aren't aware of that because there are wives or female spouses being abused, as well as husbands or male spouses. They're being abused too and, according to the act, they are entitled to maintain and run the home if it is indeed the woman that is the abuser. So I don't know if it is clear out in the communities. I know in the larger centres there are special interest groups that lobby on behalf of this and make these changes or this new legislation, as well as proceedings too, Mr. Chair.
As we get back to the RCMP in the communities, in the smaller communities, particularly in Wrigley, Mr. Chair, was that when I went there they've always wanted a nurse and they say okay, well, we'll get an RCMP officer. So I say okay, well that should be easy enough and they say can we get an RCMP member back there. But because of what's happening in the world and a few incidences, I am with the department when they came back with their response and they tell me that we can't just get one RCMP officer, you need two. So we need two RCMP officers for each community and only then, at that time, will the Department of Health and Social Services look at nurses. It's something that is needed. Wrigley is one of the few communities that has a declining population, and one of the reasons is that the young people are leaving with their old people to take care of them in places like Fort Simpson or Providence or even in Yellowknife. It's no wonder that the population is declining, but the need is still there for nurses, because I just got a recent inquiry.
Our senior and elderly population in the communities are old, Mr. Chair, they are very old. Some of them are even 90 years old and they are still living in the communities, and I would like to applaud them for having the stamina to be able to get around and keep their houses going. But when they get sick, Mr. Chair, they get really sick and just with that alone, that's why people would like to see a nurse. They want them properly diagnosed, because oftentimes they get misdiagnosed at that age. But just the whole ratio of RCMP to nurses; and we certainly want them happy, that's for sure. But if there's a way to create a presence in the community, I would like to urge the department to look at that.
I think what the Department of Health and Social Services does, particularly around Fort Simpson and Wrigley, is that during freeze-up and breakup, what they do is they actually send a staff member in for that month that the required service is not accessible by road, only by air, because the night-time is a real concern. If justice can have a really good look at going in there and doing a two or three-week stint during these periods, Mr. Chair, I think that would go a long ways in showing the community that yes, Justice cares, that they'll show a presence and acknowledge that things will happen in the night that we just can't get to and control.
So those are some of the things that the riding I represent is faced with today. The same concerns, too, are for the RCMP members in Fort Liard, Mr. Chair. The members there are doing their job the best they can with the absence of a secretary, is the way that they put it. The members are spending a lot of time on their paperwork and the community feels that it is not making them responsive enough in the communities, that they're making a presence in the communities or traveling the highway around Fort Liard. The stats are there that, because of the recent development, there was an increase in the social pressures. There's more drinking and there are harder drugs in that community and the RCMP have been very busy doing the border controls, because that's a border for so many communities. Just that extra burden of doing extra paperwork really does take a lot away from the community.
I see my time is up, Mr. Chair, so I'll just end on that note. Thank you very much.