Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, these five positions are chief coroner, crime prevention coordinator, a staff lawyer and a legal secretary. Mahsi.

Thank you. We will continue on page 9-10, information item, active position summary. Questions?

Page 9-13, activity summary, Department of Justice, services to government, operations expenditure summary. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we discussed business plans, we had a fairly involved discussion with the Minister and his staff with regards to recruitment and retention strategies for particularly lawyers and I think legal aid lawyers was kind of where we focussed our remark. At the time, I believe the Minister said they were going to look at some of the programs which operate in other departments within the GNWT and also I think some other programs that operate elsewhere in other jurisdictions in Canada. So I’m just wondering whether or not the Minister and the department have had a chance to look at some different programs to try to encourage recruitment and then

retention of lawyers and one of the things we talked about was a return of service model. Have any of those things been discussed or are they intending to be discussed in this next year? If I could have some information on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my understanding is my department has discussed with other jurisdictions, other organizations, but they are having continuous dialogue on where we can improve our services. Those potential positions that Ms. Bisaro has alluded to, we’re continuing having discussions in that area. That’s my understanding. Mahsi.

Just a follow-up question. Is return of service agreements one of the areas that is being considered? I gather it works reasonably well within the Department of Health and Social Services. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Schofield.

Thanks for that information. That’s good to hear. Hopefully something will come out of it. That’s great. That’s all.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Committee, we’re on page 9-13, activity summary, services to government, operations expenditure summary, $9.622 million.

Page 9-15, information item, services to government, active positions.

Page 9-17, activity summary, law enforcement, operations expenditure. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I mentioned in my general remarks that I was looking for some information that the schedule the department has to increase RCMP in the communities with, currently don’t have a police presence. I think some of it goes to special constables or community constables. So if the Minister could cover both of

those areas in his response, that would be helpful. Thank you.

Thank you Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi Mr. Chairman. This is a particular area of interest to our department. We are currently in negotiation with the federal government on the First Nations policing. We have shown our uniqueness in the Northwest Territories. The three territorial approach to the federal government and they have finally listened and they are re-examining and reviewing the formula funding that we get and we were told at that time that there is going to be some changes. They haven’t told us what kind of changes will be coming but to reflect our northern perspective. So with that in mind, we feel that there is going to be some increase in funding or resources that we currently have. I think we have four PYs in this respect and we have also told the federal government, every opportunity I have met with them, increase the positions. The Community Policing Program is another area that we have voiced our concerns and finally they are doing a pilot project and should be up and running we are hoping by this fall. There should be a federal announcement soon. There are advertisements that are happening. Those are the areas of increase that we have initiated and are still ongoing discussions. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. That information is all good. If for any reason all of that funding falls through, what are the plans for the department in terms of putting detachments in communities where there are none? Is there an outline or a timeline of a schedule that the Minister can advise us of? Thank you.

We don’t have a timeline to whether we have a police detachment in all communities. Of course that is our wish as well, to have detachments in all communities, but we have to continue to work with the federal government. They are the ones with the resources, the funds to cover the infrastructure and with our department we provide 70 percent of the cost factor, so we like to do it the sooner the better. But sometimes we are still waiting for the federal government to give us an approval, especially with the Gameti and Wrigley detachments. It is a slow pace but at the same time it is coming. With the remaining communities without detachments we will continue to push the federal government. We can’t do it alone as the Department of Justice Government of the Northwest Territories, but we can work with them for having additional resources in a detachment serving the ones without detachments such as the one we have done for Tsiigehtchic through Fort McPherson area. Those are the things that we can do with the federal government. Mahsi.