Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Committee, page 6-30, Municipal and Community Affairs, information item, lands administration, active positions. Any other questions?

Thank you, committee. Page 6-33, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, operations expenditure summary, $5.200 million.

Thank you, committee. Pages 6-34 and 35, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, grants and contributions, grants, $100,000, contributions, $3.357 million, total grants and contributions, $3.457 million.

Page 6-36, Municipal and Community Affairs, information item, sport, recreation and youth, active positions. Any questions?

Pages 6-40 and 6-41, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, regional operations, grants and contributions to community government, grants and contributions, grants, total grants to community governments, $55.682 million, contributions, total contributions to community government, $15.472 million, total grants and contributions to community governments, $71.154 million, total other contributions, $1.125 million, total grants and contributions, $72.279 million.

Thank you, committee. Page 6-42, Municipal and Community Affairs, information item, regional operations, active positions. Any questions?

Pages 6-44 and 6-45, Municipal and Community Affairs, information item, work performed on behalf of others.

Thank you, committee. We’ll return to page 6-7, Municipal and Community Affairs, department summary, operations expenditure summary, $98.786 million.

Thank you, committee. Are we agreed we are concluded Municipal and Community Affairs’ budget?

Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister, thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.

Our next department is Justice. We’ll start on page 9-7. I will first go to the Minister of Justice to see if Minister Abernethy has any opening comments. Minister Abernethy.

Today I am presenting the main estimates for the Department of Justice for fiscal year 2013-2014.

The department’s main estimates propose an operations expenditure budget of $116.8 million. This represents an increase of 2.7 percent over the 2012-13 Main Estimates. There is just over two million additional dollars to ensure core programs and services have sufficient resources to operate, with the majority of these funds targeted at policing and collective bargaining increases. These main estimates also propose $837,000 to fund initiatives that will enhance and expand service delivery to the residents of the Northwest Territories.

The department’s mandate is to ensure all residents have access to justice, including legal aid, the courts and their alternatives. We continue to work to build a system of justice that is open, accessible and responsive to the needs of the people we serve. We support families when they are in conflict or personal crisis and help them as they work toward successful resolutions. The department is also responsible for serving and supporting the administration of the courts.

The bulk of our resources go towards maintaining core programs and services the people of the Northwest Territories rely on. These programs are efficient and effective. We support this Assembly’s vision of strong independent people who are safe and secure in both their communities and their homes. We provide safe and secure custody of offenders and community supervision to support rehabilitation and reintegration into communities.

Whether it is a youth in trouble with the law, a victim who has been assaulted, people who need lawyers,

families who need help working through separation or divorce, or an offender who needs the proper supports to make better choices, we are there to assist. As the bulk of our staff are located in regional offices, we are close to the people we serve. However, we don’t do this alone. We have strong partnerships with NGOs, community justice committees, community and Aboriginal governments and our colleagues within the GNWT to ensure our services are integrated.

The Department of Justice is just completing the first year of the 10-Year Strategic Plan. This plan established broad strategic directions for the future focus. As a companion document and to increase accountability, in the fall of 2012 I tabled the 5-Year Implementation Strategy outlining specific actions and timelines for the department.

The Department of Justice also provides services to government. These include the provision of legal advice for all departments and legislative drafting, the provision of policy advice and support on ATIPP matters, and the services provided by the Aboriginal consultation unit. While these areas may not be clearly visible to most, they provide the backbone to a strong and effective government and are in addition to our program and service work.

As I have mentioned before, providing these services and programs during times of fiscal restraint remains challenging. The justice system is experiencing pressures similar to those confronting other departments. Socio-economic factors contribute to a crime rate that continues to be the highest in Canada. At a time when resources are limited, it is vital that we not simply react, but take the time to fully investigate and plan for sound policy decisions that are also fiscally responsible.

We are working towards this by proposing investments in areas to support this Assembly’s priorities. New in this year’s main estimates are resources addressing the impact of resource development:

• The Sahtu is experiencing economic growth due

to exploration for oil and gas. Last winter, the justice system experienced a strain on policing resources in both Norman Wells and Tulita during the seismic exploration and preliminary drilling phases.

• We must increase our services in this area, as

we know that with additional development of this magnitude comes a requirement to mitigate some of the associated impacts by providing both policing services and services to victims. Accordingly, we have included in this budget an additional $157,000 for one additional RCMP member and $90,000 to establish a Victim Services Program, both in Tulita. This additional funding will contribute to our goal of safer communities.

Additionally, we are implementing a program at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre to provide an alcohol and drug treatment program. At the present time, we are providing a Pre-Treatment Healing Program by a traditional counsellor. By combining this program with specific programming for substance abuse, we expect to see success. Our statistics tell us that the most frequent need for NWT offenders is to address issues associated with abuse and addictions from drugs and alcohol. In this budget, we have identified $339,000 for this very important program.

The department’s programs and services also provide the GNWT with modest revenue of $14.3 million or 12.3 percent of Justices’ expenditure budgets. These revenues are either generated through cost-sharing agreements with the Government of Canada for Access to Justice and Youth Justice Service, Exchange of Services Agreements for housing federal and Nunavut offenders, or through the collection of fees and fines in legal registries and the Territorial and Supreme Courts.

I am optimistic we can work with the budget we have developed. I look forward to continuing to work with Members to make a difference to the people we serve. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an overview on the department’s 2013-2014 Main Estimates. I look forward to discussing it with you in more detail. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Minister Abernethy, do you have witnesses that you’d like to bring into the Chamber?

I do, Madam Chair.