I forgot to mention, I just wanted to thank the Minister for tabling the document so that our public and our residents get an opportunity to see this and see the impacts that it’s going to have on our government and our communities.

In the conclusions, the Minister mentioned that there might be an extra pod for the North Slave Correctional Centre, as well as maybe the construction of a proposed women’s facility. When we were going through the process of Arctic Tern in Inuvik, can the Minister commit to looking at that facility, the Arctic Tern facility again and maybe, possibly making the right adjustments to it so that we can open it up should we need not construct a new building but use existing infrastructure, which we always preach about. Can the Minister answer that question? Thank you.

The most recent technical report on the Public Works and Services building still indicates that there are limitations to that building to be used as a secure facility for corrections purposes. That building has been turned over to Public Works and Services who will do some remediation work on it and have it ready for some disposal. Somebody will be able to use that building. Unfortunately, it can’t meet the criteria or the conditions for a secure facility.

We do need a female facility. The female facility we have in Fort Smith is not meeting the needs. It needs to be upgraded, and it is in the list of facilities that need to be reviewed and, hopefully, constructed over the life of this government. But we still need to have those discussions. Thank you.

The estimates that he’s got in this report are $32 million for the North Slave Correctional Centre, and then he’s got another $35 million in his conclusions for another building. We’ve got existing infrastructure out there and we have to look at how we can use those so that we don’t always put money into capital.

With that said, there’s also going to be an increase of, he states that more people are going to be wanting to appeal their sentences, so it’s going to put more stress on our legal aid system, which is already exhausted enough. What is his plan for the legal aid system should people start appealing their sentences? Thank you.

Right now we have just completed the drafting of a new Legal Aid Act, which will be coming in front of committee soon, hopefully. We’ve also been having discussions in Cabinet and with committee about enhancing or

providing some additional resources to the legal aid unit, and we will continue to have those discussions and find a way to enhance the services being provided in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Knowing what he knows here and the report that’s in there, can the Minister provide Members on this side of the House a detailed plan of how he’s going to start implementing the effects of this report that he put out, a plan that’s going to allow us to know what’s going to be coming in future business plans? Thank you.

We only have 36 minutes and I don’t think anybody wants me to use that entire time up. What I’d like to offer is I can certainly meet with committee to go through some of the things that we’re planning and build upon the discussions that we’ve already had on the business plan and walk through some of the details of this report. If the committee wants that, I am happy to provide the Member and committee with a little bit more of a briefing on this topic. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don’t.

I’m not sure I want to thank the Minister, but I guess I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not he would be willing to provide that information. I think one of the things that we have to realize is that taking an issue to the Supreme Court is not cost effective for our residents. We have many, many people who are so totally intimidated

about going to court that they wouldn’t even think of doing that and taking that action.

I appreciate that the Minister is going to look at the act, and I appreciate that we will get some kind of action. I’d like to ask the Minister when we might be able to get the information that he’s referencing. He may have given a time frame and maybe I missed it, but when can we look to see the results of the review that he says he’s going to do? Thank you.

I have directed the department to have some results ready for discussion with committee and Members in the fall. Thank you.

I’d like to ask the Minister whether he has any information in another area. The rental officer, as he advised us and as most people are aware, can quite rightly assign fines for noncompliance of rental officer orders. It’s $2,000 for an individual. It can be $25,000 for a business. Can the Minister advise us how many rental officer orders have been ignored and how many fines have been assessed in 2010-2011 fiscal year? Thank you.

I don’t, obviously, have that information with me today, but I will commit to getting that information from the department and providing it to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have anything else that I can ask and get any answers for. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement about dredging, we are concerned about the sediment buildup in the Hay River area.

My first question to the Minister of Transportation is: Does the territorial government and the Department of Transportation have any dredging programs planned for the Hay River area this year?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. We don’t have responsibility for dredging. What we do look forward to doing this summer is organizing with NTCL, the Canadian Coast Guard, and I believe Midnight Petroleum is also involved in the little bit of work that is going to be conducted in Hay River this

coming summer. But, certainly, the port of Hay River hasn’t had a full-fledged dredging program since 1994, and a lot of sediment and silt can certainly build up in that port over almost a 20-year period. It’s of great concern to the department. We continue to raise the issue with the federal government at every opportunity. Thank you.

The Minister has indicated that industry is interested. I’m wondering if the Minister will commit to assessing the Hay River harbour and the full dredging needs in working with all the proponents, whether it’s industry or whether it’s the federal government, to build a needs assessment for the dredging in the Hay River area?

I think at some point this summer I would like to be in Hay River to have a look at the port of Hay River, to discuss with operators, fishermen, people who use that port on a daily basis the needs on the dredging side. Again, certainly, I think we have to come up with a business case and continue to impress upon the federal government the need to put some money into dredging the port of Hay River. It’s estimated it could be as high as about $12 million to $15 million to dredge the port of Hay River.

Thank you. Back in December I asked some similar questions about dredging in Hay River and the federal government’s responsibility. The Minister indicated that he was going to begin negotiations and discussions with the federal government on this project. Can the Minister give me an update on has he had any meetings on this issue with the federal government?