Mr. Chair, one of the issues that I have had some discussions with the elders in the Sahtu, especially some of the elders up in Colville Lake when we had some of our meetings there, that they wanted to look at alternative methods to aboriginal justice corrections in our region here. Certainly these camps here, I think what the department has to offer in terms of moving in this direction is commendable, but also a trailblazer in that area. I think it’s long overdue.

The elders would definitely like to see a bigger role in these types of camps, yet the system is still stuck on having facilities and certain policies that support these facilities. So I think that wilderness camps, as the elders say, would be the way to go. However, this is a good start. But it’s very, very little to what can really be offered.

So I would ask the Minister of Justice how committed and serious is his department and this Cabinet in terms of looking at coming full force with dealing with the aboriginal justice issues in the

North? In our region, most of my people, or 80 percent, are aboriginal people, in terms of the ratio of aboriginal versus non-aboriginal in the Sahtu.