I think we can do better than that. There are a number of federal funding

programs that we can access. We are working with the federal government on a Disaster Mitigation Program which we expect will be rolling out soon. We have our friends at CanNor and, also, there’s another federal funding program that we’re in discussions with the Government of Canada on. We can approach it on all of those venues as well as talking to the federal government about exactly what the Member is suggesting.

When the federal government was located in Hay River with their dredging program under the Department of Public Works, it was an annual event. This was not a one-time thing. I would like to ask the Premier if some of the funding that he’s talking about that may be available through federal programs, if this would be something that would re-establish an ongoing activity in Hay River to see that harbour kept in good condition.

We’ve done some work with our partners, specifically the Coast Guard, I think NTCL, and I think even Midnight Petroleum, and we’ve scoped out the potential costs for a very small dredging program. The cost estimate is about $2 million to $3 million. For a large dredging program it will be about $12 million. The problem, I think, that was identified by Mr. Bouchard, is that there is no existing dredge in Hay River. We would have to go and find one. I think the closest one is in the Columbia River area or we would have to go as far as the Mississippi. I think that if we do ramp up to that level, I expect if we’re going to dredge there, that would be the start so that we could look at it on a more regular basis.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In previous governments the answer that I continued to get from this government is that the dredging of the Hay River Harbour was not their responsibility, it was federal jurisdiction. What I’m hearing from the Premier today is, in fact, that the territorial government may be looking at taking this on on an ongoing basis and taking responsibility. Just to clarify, is that what I’m hearing today?

We are prepared to participate and even contribute some funding as we’re doing for the program this year, but it’s still a federal responsibility and I suspect the federal government would not want to devolve this, which is typically a federal jurisdiction.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our plan is to try to get into the community as soon as possible. We recently announced the plans to replace the Joe Greenland Centre. We want to try and get in there as soon as possible. We still have about a month of winter road. I’m assuming staff from the department in Inuvik will be heading over to Aklavik to start the planning of the new Joe Greenland Centre.

I’d like to ask the Minister, will the department build a facility like the Joe Greenland Centre in Fort McPherson.

Because the Member asked, I’ll say yes, we will. As part of our announcement last week, we did announce that we were building four new seniors facilities. One of them was in Fort McPherson, the other one was in Fort Good Hope, we have one in Fort Liard, and the other one in Whati. The planning for that is in the early stages right now. We do plan to construct these in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

Mahsi cho to the Minister. I have no further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the need for people to go on the land who have done some pretty serious damages. The people and elders in our communities talk about that. I want to ask the Minister what the status is of the two communities who have made this request; Colville Lake for integrating people back into the communities and, of course, the community of Fort Good Hope, who wanted on-the-land treatment programs for people who are sent to our correctional institutes here.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently in the Northwest Territories we only have one wilderness camp and that’s Kozo Lake camp in the South Slave. We have had a request from Fort Good Hope to actually re-engage

and reconfirm the camp that used to be in the Fort Good Hope or Sahtu area. We are having those discussions. We believe that these camps are important and provide a valuable service, and we would like to see it up and running. We still have to work out some details on the specifics for the Fort Good Hope wilderness camp but we are doing that, and hope to have some progress there. With respect to Colville Lake, it wasn’t a wilderness camp we were talking about. It was a reintegration program. We are very excited about this. This would be the first time that we’ve worked with the community and, to their credit, they were the ones who approached us and offered to work with us on a reintegration program.

We haven’t finalized any programs but I am happy to say that community members from Colville Lake recently met with some inmates from Colville Lake in the North Slave correctional facility and they were very supportive in finding ways to help that individual reintegrate back into the community, including providing logs so that the person could build themselves a home. They agreed to work with the inmate to help him find employment in the community. They’ve worked with the inmate to have him engage with youth committees and work with youth in the community. They’ve also got a plan to have them engage in some traditional activities within the community and the area. We think this is a great foundation for building the reintegration plan with the community that they have talked about, and we are still eager to do that and will continue to move forward on that.

In the latest numbers that I have received from the department, it costs the Government of the Northwest Territories about $107,000 a year per inmate to keep them at one of our correctional centres here. I want to ask the Minister what it costs to have an on-the-land program. Do they have one yet in the Territories? What does it cost for having people on the land at that type of program?

I don’t have the exact numbers for housing inmates in our facilities, but the number the Member quoted sounds right. I will confirm that actual number for the cost over a year.

As far as the exact numbers for inmates who are taking advantage of this -- and we must remember that inmates aren’t required to go to wilderness camps, they have to express desire and an interest to go to the wilderness camps -- but I will confirm to the Member what the costs are per day, but also the whole program costs as well.

I believe the Minister’s willingness. When I sat with him in Colville Lake, people and good old people, he wanted to do something different and do something that would make sense to the Aboriginals who have hurt our communities and their people. I want to ask the

Minister if there’s a possibility of possibly having some time to invite the Social Justice Committee members to go to Kozo Lake and look at that project, talk to the contractor and possibly talk to some of the people who are doing time there right now and see the benefits of on-the-land treatment programs for people in the North.

Anecdotally, we know, from speaking to some of the inmates who have attended wilderness camps, that their experience in these camps makes them better able to take advantage of other programs that may be offered in our facilities, both in treatment within the facility and outside. One thing we need to remember, and I’ve already mentioned it, is that it’s very important that inmates are actively involved in their case management discussions, which may include opportunities to go out to these camps.

Camp experience can also be very advantageous, if you will, because it helps individuals prepare to return to their communities. It helps them connect with family, connect to community supports, which is obviously essential when people are returning.

With respect to the Kozo Lake camp, which is the one camp that we do have a contract with today, I personally haven’t been there but I take the Member’s point that it may be beneficial for me, and maybe a member or two from committee, to visit this camp to get a sense of the valuable services that they can provide as far as helping us prepare inmates for reintegration back into their communities and avoid being repeat offenders.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been estimated that 85 percent of crimes in the Northwest Territories are alcohol and/or drug related, and 90 percent of offenders in the Northwest Territories correctional facilities have addiction issues. A high percentage of these offenders and people in the correctional institutes are Aboriginal people.

What Aboriginal context, what type of Aboriginal programs do you have that are operating now in the correctional institutes that we can also possibly offer on-the-land programs?

We do know that a significant portion of the inmates within our facilities are suffering from either addictions or mental health issues. As we’ve talked about already, the camps are an opportunity to help people deal with some of their personal issues and, obviously, in the long-term, reintegrate back into society.

Within our facilities here in the Northwest Territories, we do have specific programming, traditional programming, as well as some alcohol and drug programs in the facilities to help those individuals when they’re ready to start dealing with

some of those challenges so that we can help them return to their communities and stay out of the justice system in the future. There are a number of programs. I can provide the Member and committee with a list of the specific programs that are available within each of our facilities so that they have a better understanding.