Thank you Ms. Bisaro. No question there, but, Mr. Minister, would you like to respond?

Mahsi Mr. Chairman. We can set dates but if the federal government doesn’t come into play, then it really doesn’t work for us. But I can share with the Member that those areas that we need to discuss further with the standing committee we could give, let’s say, 10 years from now all the communities will be filled with detachments. Of course, that is our goal and objective. But at the same time it has taken some time for the federal government to make a commitment in that area, so it is going to be very difficult in small communities.

It is similar with the nursing, with the community populations of 100 or 120 people, it would be difficult to have the infrastructure in the community, so that is why we are heavily dependent on the federal government. I would assure the Member that I will push more at the federal/provincial/territorial Ministers’ meeting.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Next I have on my list Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just along the same area, we do have a lot of discussion about having RCMP presence in every community in the North. I think that department should actually do that evaluation, because I don’t think we can have police in every community in the Northwest Territories. They don’t man the posts by themselves and then we have communities of 50 people and then we have communities that are part of the 33 communities that were recognized across the North that are attached to other communities. Like Dettah/Ndilo would probably not get their own police force and the Hay River Reserve would probably not get their own police force. Things like that I think are important to lay those things out for the Regular Members.

The other thing, because we keep asking the same questions and the answer seems to be we’re going to try to put police in every community, but the reality is that’s probably never going to happen. So we should probably bite the bullet. I can’t see it happening. But my question is more along the line of First Nation policing. It has a better cost-sharing

arrangement. Is there a possibility for the department to negotiate a fairly large chunk of the Territorial Policing Services Agreement into the First Nations? There’s a small portion here that’s in the First Nation policing. I don’t know if the Minister can answer that question directly, but I’m wondering if that is something that’s possible.

On another point so I don’t have to ask any more questions, but I need to hear what the plan is for the Community Policing Program again from the Minister. I kind of missed it when he explained it to Ms. Bisaro. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I totally agree. This First Nations policing, it’s a different agreement than the police contract we have with the RCMP “G” Division. We currently have a 70/30 shared agreement, 52/48 agreement. So it is a big difference. As I stated, we’re currently in negotiations with the federal at that level and Mrs. Schofield is part of that and the ADM is also part of that. So those are the ongoing discussions that we’re currently having with the federal government and, of course, we’re pushing for whether it be more funding or resources that we desperately need here in the Northwest Territories, and I think we’re going to see some changes because it has been earmarked as our uniqueness and our northern perspective.

The Community Policing Program, that particular program is similar to special programs, of course. They want to have a pilot project program in early 2010 and the training is supposed to take place whether it be this summer or this fall and three of those officers will be in the Northwest Territories and it will be up to the RCMP “G” Division to allocate where those individuals will be, preferably with a detachment, I think. That’s our understanding from the RCMP “G” Division. So it is their call to say where they’re going to go.

So, Mr. Chair, those are the key areas of community policing. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Committee, we’re on page 9-17, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, one more question. When the Minister was discussing something earlier or in his remarks he mentioned the difficulties with placing RCMP in communities and the need to provide housing for them. When we discussed the Housing Corporation, I believe the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation indicated that they are working with various departments to try and provide staff housing. So to the Minister of Justice, is there an opportunity to work with the NWT Housing Corporation to provide

housing for RCMP to try and enable officers in our communities sooner rather than later? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The quick answer is most definitely yes, because those officers that need to go to the communities without detachments, such as Wrigley or Tsiigehtchic, we definitely need to work out some agreement in that area. We want to have more presence in the community by RCMP, but sometimes there’s no accommodation. If they provide accommodation, it’s not suitable to their standards as well. So we have to identify the specs as well. When I was talking about the infrastructure, that also includes the detachment where it has to be according to the “G” Division specs on the detachment as well. But, Mr. Chair, yes, I’ll continue to work with the NWT Housing Corporation in this area.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, that’s all I have.

Thank you. Committee, we’re on page 9-17, activity summary, law enforcement, operations expenditures summary, $33.586 million.

Page 9-19, activity summary. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. During business plans we did discuss the idea of a child advocate from a program that the department, I believe, is thinking about considering putting in place. If I could ask the Minister or his officials for an update on where this initiative is at and whether there’s any kind of a date that we can be advised of as to when this might or might not happen. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. When this was brought up at the standing committee, we did share with them that we are working on a children’s lawyer. So it would be like an advocate for children in the Northwest Territories. So those are the areas that we’ve been talking about. I guess the children’s lawyer will give the children a voice in legal proceedings that certainly affects them and by also protecting their rights. So I think it’s similar to what Ms. Bisaro is referring to, maybe a different title, but that piece of work we’ve been focusing on and we’re making progress in this area. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate you’re making progress. Could I have a little more definitive answer as to what kind of progress, is it anywhere near completion or fruition or decision

time? When might we see this particular initiative actually on the ground? Thank you.

We are doing research in other jurisdictions as well. That should be completed and a discussion paper should be available within the next six months to the standing committee. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister. Committee, we’re on page 9-19, activity summary, legal aid services, operations expenditures summary, $5.642 million. Agreed?

Page 9-20, information item, legal aid services, active positions. Questions?