Thank you, Mr. Minister. I was hoping you would say nine or eight, but it's 13. The last time we heard, it was 11 communities. I'm not too sure how the RCMP goes through the process of determining how many members go into the communities. You have three that are very close around Yellowknife, Rae and Fort Providence and you have one up in Inuvik where there are new RCMP members. I don't know if it's just bad spots with more crimes or why you are having more RCMP in those communities. Now, you have 13 communities without detachments and you're...Of course, we know it's more we need them in our communities, but it just doesn't seem to make any sense where they're going to get more RCMP in Yellowknife, Rae and Providence and Inuvik, where you have 13 communities that have no RCMP members and you tie them to a detachment, you tie them to...It's easier in the larger communities.

Now you're run up on the issue with the federal government, you're saying that Public Works Canada is not going to house any more RCMP. It's going to be twice as hard now for the RCMP in the Northwest Territories. So you have another challenge on your hand, but I just shake my head. Thirteen communities without RCMP. You're putting six where they already have detachments. Well, it's too bad. You don't have the places, you don't have the detachment. I know you have mind-boggling how they come up with justification to put more members into these communities.

Now you're asking, you're hoping the communities with the $500 million fund, which is not very much when you divide it down the Mackenzie Valley, hoping that the communities will say, gee whiz, let's put some money into the RCMP public safety. That money, that's a territorial government issue. The federal government. Now you're putting the onus on the community to take some of that $500 million fund and put it towards the RCMP. You're offloading a prime, key essential service to the communities and you're hoping that we would say yes, it is a concern so we should put the money to public safety. You're tying the communities' hands again.

Get the RCMP and put them in the communities where they need them. It's going to come back up to the House again. Have some creative solutions. I mean, I heard somebody talk about special constables. Folks on these larger centres where you have them, I'm thinking maybe there's something that we don't know here. But you could have police again dedicated to Yellowknife, Rae, Fort Providence and Inuvik. They haven't even looked at the 13 communities that are without RCMP.

I'm having a hard time, Mr. Minister. I'm just really having a hard time. It's a passion of mine and I know communities like Colville Lake, Wrigley, Sachs Harbour, I wouldn't go any further because I don't have the exact list. The Members who live there, whole communities live there without RCMP members. So I'm having a hard time right now to rationalize how the department came up with a joint discussion with the RCMP to locate these RCMP members. For me, it's just, you have more RCMP, more crime in those locations. I don't know where the thinking is

sometimes that goes on how they allocate the services and resources to the communities.

I'm letting some of my frustration off, Mr. Minister, in terms of we're not seeing nothing in the communities. That's where you do get into the large centres/small centres debates about us against them. You can see a prime example. So I think it'll continue until we start seeing some changes and I think the communities are looking forward to this government to make some changes here.

They shouldn't be tying this $500 million. This shouldn't even be in the discussion. This $500 million fund shouldn't even be a part of the discussion. What if the pipeline doesn't go? What if the government, for some other reason, doesn't honour this commitment? It has nothing to do with this discussion. We should wait on this $500 million. It shouldn't be even a topic here.

So, Mr. Chairman, I want to ask how the RCMP determines where should the RCMP new members be located. Is it by crime? Is it by need? Is it by...They have to have some kind of a grid or some kind of a method to say, yes, Yellowknife needs another RCMP because there's more crack cocaine, or in the city of Yellowknife there's more dealers, or there's more impact on Rae or more potential, this is happening in the Providence area or in Inuvik. Because certainly it doesn't, I don't get it in terms of how they determine their allocation of RCMP members in the Northwest Territories. Now we have 13 communities. I'm going to stop there, Mr. Chairman, in terms of venting more frustration. Thank you.