Mr. Chairman, there is Wrigley and also, of course, Gameti. They are still priorities for GNWT and the Justice department. We have invested resources to make that happen. Now we are just waiting for the federal government to do their part as infrastructure.
I can assure the Member and also the Members, that at every provincial/territorial/federal Ministers meeting this has been addressed at every table, Wrigley and Gameti. They are fully aware of it. Our understanding is that federal infrastructure is still part of the plan, but it has been backdated from what we have heard. We are looking at other
options as well. We call it mobile cell units. Those are just some of the key initiatives that we are pursuing with the chief commanding officer of the Northwest Territories RCMP, Wade Blake. He is exploring and it is much cheaper than the regular detachment. We did present the idea to the federal Minister back in December 2010. Part of my plan is to see the federal Minister, Minister Toews, possibly some time in March to follow up and see what the status is on those two detachments. We will continue to address those matters because it is important to us as a department. We want to see that happen. We put RCMP officers in Fort Simpson to serve Wrigley. We have done our part. We have committed. We will continue to provide those resources. We will continue to again pressure the federal government to do their part.
Mr. Chairman, the other matter on the two workers that applied, I think we need to deal with these matters when they arise. Let’s say these complaints or concerns are brought forward and it usually goes through the MLA’s office and the MLAs usually send it to our department so we can follow through what happened. How come those individuals weren’t hired? Of course, there is a due process, but I did commit in this House that we are developing and we have started on a Northern Development Program for within our Justice department focusing on the Aboriginal workforce. We want to increase the Aboriginal workforce, especially in the corrections area. I hear the Member’s concern. I want to address it as well. These are the areas that we are going to tackle in the area of correction institution. Mr. Chairman, these are the two areas that have been addressed and we will continue to work with those individuals. I commend those individuals for applying. I hope they will continue applying, because we want to make some changes as well. They may have gone through some hoops in the past, but we want to develop and enforce this Northern Development Program within our Justice department. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.