Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I’d first like to thank the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Alfred Moses, for seconding this motion allowing this debate to occur.
Mr. Speaker, this motion today is a culmination of some hands-on exposure, the first of which stems from my experience in accompanying local RCMP and municipal enforcement division officers during a number of summer ride-alongs. It was evident early on that the opportunity of expanding the scope of practice for municipal enforcement officers in the area of alcohol-related infraction clearly would have been beneficial in enhancing the public safety in our downtown core.
My second exposure was also echoed during the recent Yellowknife town hall meeting on public safety. It was evident then that residents wanted
tangible solutions to address the safety concerns of our walking trails and our downtown corridor.
These experiences allowed me to do the proper research and put pen to paper in seeking out these tangible solutions within our legislation.
As legislators, we have the duty to assist our local police forces to do their job as efficiently and effectively as possible. This motion today speaks to how we can do this by helping create the right legislative environment that promotes ease of enforcement to the issues that matter most to NWT residents.
We see the impacts of alcohol abuse on Yellowknife streets and in many of our communities, where public drunkenness and open liquor are, unfortunately, all too common.
It is also a well-known fact that alcohol is a factor in a vast majority of crimes committed in the capital city and we have the sobering statistics to confirm this. According to Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index, in 2011 Yellowknife ranked third out of 238 Canadian cities with a population over 10,000 people for the severity of its crime.
To add fuel to this statistic, this summer, while speaking with Northern News Services, Inspector Frank Gallagher, detachment commander for the Yellowknife RCMP, said alcohol abuse is the biggest challenge to policing in Yellowknife. Given these facts, it was indeed a surprise to learn that, unlike the RCMP, municipal enforcement are limited in their ability to enforce NWT liquor laws. They have the authority under the Motor Vehicles Act to make traffic stops if they suspect impaired driving on municipal streets and they have authority to inspect and deal with liquor infractions taking place in licenced premises, but they do not have the authority to deal with public drunkenness, open liquor or underage drinking. This means that our municipal enforcement officers are powerless to deal with public drunkenness even when we know abuse of alcohol is the single biggest factor contributing to crime on our streets.
Mr. Speaker, this is why we have the motion before us today. Our current legal framework does not make any sense to me. Peace officers, whether they are RCMP or municipal enforcement officers, have a duty to protect public safety and should be given the tools and authorities they need to deal with all liquor infractions.
Members of the public are scared in their own city and expect action. Enhancing the authority of municipal enforcement officers to effectively deal with all alcohol infractions can only serve to reduce the frequency of alcohol-related problems which, in turn, can help reduce alarming incidents of crime plaguing our community.
We owe a debt of gratitude to members of our police forces across the NWT for the hard work
they do and the sacrifices they make to keep our families safe from harm. This motion today spans a security blanket we hold dear, and speaks to the future discussion and possible amendments to the Liquor Act or other legislation allowing this expanded scope of practice to municipal enforcement officers to adequately deal with liquor infractions.
Of course, we fully realize that strengthening the ability of municipal enforcement officers will require proper training and liability to enable a municipality to take on this enhanced responsibility. This is a given.
However, this motion seeks only that the Minister of Finance undertake discussion and look at possible amendments to the Liquor Act and other legislation and nothing more. In the end, we know we have much consultation ahead of us to work with all NWT municipalities with municipal enforcement officers and the NWTAC, and we must, as always, make sure we have the right legislation in place so when a municipality is ready to act, they have a choice before them and are not waiting for legislative changes.
Again, I want to thank the House for allowing me to raise this motion today and I look forward to everyone’ s comments and support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.