Thank you, Madam Speaker. It has been awhile since I’ve stood up in this House to address the continued concern that plagues most of our communities, and this concern is of those who continue to feed off our vulnerable residents and those who are battling with addictions: the drug dealers and the bootleggers.

I’m speaking here today because of concerns that I’ve heard from residents throughout the Northwest Territories recently, and talking about the issues

that still arise with the intimidation from families, from friends. We need to empower our residents of the Northwest Territories to speak up and speak out about these people who continue to live in these communities and continue to be the ones driving the nice skidoos and the fancy cars at the price and the health of the people who they grew up with.

We have campaigns such as the Not Us! campaign, we have Crime Stoppers, but that still doesn’t seem to be having a strong effect because we continue to see this problem, especially in the areas where we’re having some of our economic wealth and economic growth. We’ve seen it up in Inuvik when we were busy and in regions where we’re getting more work developed. I think this government needs to take more of a focus and put some of its resources in these areas in these communities, especially the ones that are accessible by road and by air that we start taking a bigger stance on this and addressing the issue with the drug dealers and the bootleggers.

This government needs to look at also creating better incentives through us or in partnership with the federal government to those who want to speak up, but we also have to provide support and safety for those who want to speak up in our communities. That way they know that this government supports them when they want to get an illness out of their community.

It’s not only us who need to work; the government can only do so much. We need residents of the Northwest Territories to speak up, to let us know and to let the RCMP know and the concerned members, the leadership in the community know who these drug dealers are, who these bootleggers are and get them out of the community and start building a more healthy community for the NWT.

I support these people who are trying to do this right now and I support their actions. Even though they might be feeling a little bit unsafe when they do speak up, I for one am a Member who supports these individuals who speak up for a healthier community. Thank you, Madam Speaker.