Mr. Speaker, community safety is a critical priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. We need to look out for each other and make our neighbourhoods places with a strong sense of well-being. Everyone needs to feel safe and be safe.
Earlier this month Yellowknifers came together to hold a conversation on community safety. My thanks to Ms. Bisaro for the role she played as moderator for the evening. I was also pleased to welcome other MLAs and community leadership to the discussion. The meeting was well-attended by the public and included members from the Coalition Against Family Violence there, continuing their advocacy for victims and efforts to stop violence. Community safety has to be solved by the community and I was pleased to see so many people willing to take on that challenge.
We talked about things everyone can do to make this a safe community. Victims showed great courage; they told us what happened to them, and they encouraged everyone to keep using the trail and the parks, not abandoning our public spaces. We talked about the need to get offenders the help they need, not just arresting and releasing people. Over and over, residents stressed that sexual violence is a crime of power and control, not of chronic addiction or homelessness. We also talked about the crimes that are the biggest threat to women throughout our territory: family violence and other assaults within the home at the hands of intimate partners who are well-known to their victims.
We are already taking action on what we heard at that community meeting. I have directed the department to work with the City of Yellowknife and the RCMP to explore approaches to improve communications and coordination between the RCMP and the municipal enforcement division. We are also looking at options for supporting community-based actions, like the Citizens on Patrol program. Working groups from the organizations involved in the community meeting are being established to act on the issues and ideas we heard, and we have committed to holding another public meeting in the new year.
Over the past two years we have been holding other community safety meetings throughout the Northwest Territories. These meetings have brought together residents, elected municipal officials, Aboriginal government leaders, RCMP and GNWT officials to discuss community concerns and issues and how we can all work together to solve them.
Community participation in these meetings was also critical. We all need to find ways, as organizations and individuals, to work together to make our communities places where people feel safe, look out for each other, and know where to go for help when they need it. At the end of the day, it isn’t governments that make a community, it’s the people who live in it.
Our Community Safety Strategy is being piloted in Tulita, the Hay River Reserve and Inuvik. Through this strategy, we support communities as they
identify their priorities and the resources they have to tackle issues. We must take advantage of the wisdom of the communities if we’re going to successfully address community safety. The results of the pilot project will be of real benefit to Yellowknifers as we expand the program throughout our territory, addressing root causes of crime and drawing on the strengths of our own people.
Mr. Speaker, our communities are ready for this type of work to be done. There is a growing demand from our citizens that we address community safety. But it is a complex problem with many causes and we have to deal with them at the root. Dealing with the symptoms is not enough. That is why the GNWT has launched a number of strategies to deal with the social and economic challenges that often limit people’s potential.
These include initiatives such as the Early Childhood Development Strategy, to ensure our children start off on the right foot. We are addressing the critical piece of economic well-being and social health through the Anti-Poverty Strategy, Economic Opportunities Strategy and Mineral Development Strategy. The Mental Health and Wellness Strategy plays a key role in eliminating barriers. The work we are doing on educational reform will give everyone in our territory more opportunities for lifelong learning so they can take advantage of every second, third, or fourth chance.
We are taking a strategic and effective approach to supporting our people and working with partners and stakeholders just as we are asking communities to do. As Minister responsible for the Anti-Poverty Strategy, which several Members here participate in, I can say the concept is working. Through this multi-level approach, we will make a difference.
We are listening and we will work as a government providing support and playing our part. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.