Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is going to complete our response to the multi-year business plan submitted by the RCMP. This year's complement of six officers will be, we understand, at least our information at this point is that they will be located in Yellowknife, Rae, Providence, and Inuvik. But of course, as I indicated earlier, the operational decisions will be made by the RCMP as to where their assets are best located, including people, and they will move them around as they see fit. But that's the information that we have at this point; six officers in those communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that from the Minister. Now, although I don't have the report before me, the deputy is probably familiar with the operational review prepared by the RCMP, Mr. Terry Scott, a few years ago. I'm wondering on the complement that they had requested in order to deliver effective and basic law enforcement services throughout the Northwest Territories and it wasn't just based on Yellowknife, but on the territory as a whole, if I understand it correctly. I'd like to underscore that it's been quite some time since I've read it or even seen it, so I'm just wondering, I'm sure somebody here today is familiar with that report and can they sort of give us an overview on have we addressed the needs that the RCMP have put forward to ensure that basic law enforcement services are being delivered in the Territories and, if we are not, what are we missing out on at this time, and how do we expect to or how do we foresee that we will be meeting that challenge? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I suspect that the work the Member is speaking about was done and contracted or done for the RCMP. What they've done, I believe, is taken that work and submitted a multi-year business plan to us. So that's what we've seen. It was submitted by the RCMP, not the individual that the Member is speaking of. They ask in total, over a number of years, was 27 positions and we have come forward over the last, I think it's three years now. This is the last year of that funding plan and we will be providing funding for 28 positions. So we've gone one unit over what the original ask was in the business plan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you. No, that's exactly what I was looking for, was the fact that we met the challenge that they put forward in order to deliver the basic services they felt. So, no, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Next I have Mr. Braden.

Hawkins.

Hawkins. Continuing Mr. Hawkins's line of questioning, how many officers are there in total now stationed and funded in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to endeavour to get that information here as we speak. The current number of established positions, total established positions in the Northwest Territories is 217.5 positions.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does that include the number of civilian positions, too, that are required, or is this all police officers, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Chairman, in that number are 23 civilian positions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Braden.

Does this leave us with any, with the six positions added this year, a total of 28 new ones in the last three, which I think is a very good track record, Mr. Chairman, does this leave us shorthanded or understaffed in any particular areas and, if so, where, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Chairman, we would add the six positions to the 217. Let me say, across the board and throughout the country the RCMP are hard pressed to train enough officers to make sure that we have enough officers to fill the vacancies and the needs that the provinces and territories have. They have an ambitious plan that they are rolling out to try to be better able to do that. We're hopeful that they'll be able to do that because it is certainly one thing to create the position and to get the funding, but it's also very difficult to staff positions throughout the country. I think in addition to that national reality, we are also faced with the fact that Public Works Canada has decided that they are not going to subsidize housing for RCMP and that RCMP will have to pay market rates for housing, making it, as we go forward here, more and more expensive for officers to locate in the North. That is something that we are very concerned about and something that we are taking that discussion to the federal level to try to appeal to them and have them recognize that that would be probably, we think, too onerous for northern jurisdictions. We know that officers have a choice in where they're going to be located and we think that will hurt our vacancy rate over time if that's the case. But that is what they are planning to do, and we're certainly working to see if there can be some special recognition of our challenges and the cost of housing in the North for officers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Braden.