Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I made a statement praising Hay River's liveability. It is a beautiful and safe place to raise a family, so do not take this the wrong way, but Hay River needs more cops.

Currently, Hay River is allocated seven general duty constables. Those are the men and women who patrol the community and respond to the day-to-day calls, from the routine mundane ones to the serious and potentially life-threatening calls. That is seven officers to cover the community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but seven officers does not necessarily mean seven officers.

The NWT has the highest vacancy rate of allocated positions of any province or territory. In addition, each officer is entitled to anywhere between 15 and 20 weeks of annual leave. There is also a list of required training courses that the RCMP must attend. Those courses can last up to two weeks. What all this means is that there are times when there are only three general duty constables available to cover all shifts.

On top of this, the RCMP have to perform duties that are handled by sheriffs in most other jurisdictions. Court is held in Hay River every second Monday, with trials on the following Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday. The RCMP are responsible for transporting prisoners to and from these proceedings, and monitoring them while they are in court. That means up to six days a month there is one officer who is unable to respond to calls, patrol the community, or assist in investigations.

The fact is, and the RCMP will confirm this, we will need more general duty constables in Hay River. Let us consider how we stacked up against other jurisdictions. We are 50 per cent bigger than Fort Smith. They have six positions, compared to our seven. Inuvik has 12 positions, despite the fact that Hay River fields twice as many calls per constable that result in charges being laid, each charge charged as hours of paperwork. The staff shortage impacts public safety, officer safety, and I can't imagine it is good for the mental well-being of these officers who are being asked to do more than is humanly possible.

There are simple solutions that the department must be aware of but has not acted on. The obvious, allocate more positions in Hay River. A men's shelter would significantly cut down the number of calls the RCMP responded to. Just look at what the sobering centre has done in Yellowknife. Third, task the sheriffs with handling prisoner transport and overseeing prisoners while in court. I will have questions for the Minister of Justice at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to address an important way that this government can support our growing and diversifying economy.

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in our economy, as we heard from a Member earlier today. That applies to the City of Yellowknife, and it is becoming more and more a reality in all regions of the NWT. Tourism is growing in terms of where our visitors are coming from. Most visitors used to be from Japan, but now more are coming from China, even Korea and other countries. The tourism season is also growing. We are seeing more tourists here now in the summer, when mostly they used to be here during the colder months.

Tourism is one sector where we are moving positively in the direction of our mandate goals of job creation and economic diversification. It is important for this government to support this growing industry, and certainly not stand in its way. For that reason, I am asking this government to support our municipalities with enabling legislation to let them apply a hotel levy.

The City of Yellowknife is currently implementing a Destination Marketing Organization strategy to aggressively market the capital as a tourist destination. It will coordinate all ways of marketing the city, and draw on all of the city's resources to attract visitors. Mr. Speaker, increasing tourist traffic by just 10 per cent could bring in millions in additional dollars.

The City of Yellowknife has taken the tourism ball and is running with it. Allowing them to institute a hotel levy will provide resources so that they can develop local tourism as they see fit. In the capital, it could help attract national level conferencing and gathering opportunities. In turn, that will support a more robust, active, healthy downtown core. Since Yellowknife is the starting point for most NWT visitors, growth in the capital will benefit all NWT communities and regions.

Mr. Speaker, the hotel levy resolution is supported by the city, the NWT Association of Communities, the local hotel association, and NWT Tourism. Our communities want to develop their own tourism potential, and we should be working to support them and helping them take advantage of these opportunities. Mr. Speaker, let us change the CTV Act. Let us support the levy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been a long week of doing eulogies, and today it will continue. Today, I would like to speak about a beloved member of the community of Fort Simpson who passed away late last week. Peter B. Shaw moved to Fort Simpson in the 1980s. Before moving to Fort Simpson, Peter had travelled the world. After his arrival to town, he called Fort Simpson home, and hardly travelled outside very much.

Some of Peter's most memorable commitments to the community included the Santa Claus Parade, the Memorial Day Poppy Sale, and Memorial Day Celebration as part of the Canada Day Parade. Peter was the first member of the community to initiate the Santa Claus Parade, and it is thanks to him that the residents of Fort Simpson enjoyed it every year.

Peter was a member of the volunteer ambulance services in Fort Simpson for many years. Peter would respond to calls alone when no one else could accompany him. His commitment was unmatched. A current member of our community, Mr. Calvin Spencer, moved to Fort Simpson and was trained by Peter as a maintenance operator, as Peter was the maintenance operator for the then Department of Public Works for the federal government. Calvin recalls Peter's commitment and helpful. If he called him at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning for assistance with boilers, he was there in a heartbeat.

As a businessman, Peter was a big supporter of the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce. He really supported local businesses and liked to see members of the community thrive. Peter ran a large craft shop for a number of years. He would buy traditional Aboriginal crafts from all over the Deh Cho to sell in his store. Not one soul in the region who did crafts would be turned away from Peter's door, and he saw the value in every piece he purchased. Peter would go so far as selling tourists crafts that they did not have money for, with the promise of them paying the bill later on. Peter's faith in humanity was so large that he received the promised payments from the tourists after their departure.

Sometimes Peter would not even mark up the crafts from his purchases. He hardly made any profits and would even have a hard time parting with the crafts he sold. Unfortunately, Peter's store burnt down with all those beautiful crafts and artefacts. Back in the day, Peter had the first video rental store in Fort Simpson. He was a river monitor, staying up late hours of the night, ensuring that he was the first to respond. Peter had a love of the nature and was able to feed ravens out of his own hand.

Peter's lasting marks on the community will never fade. Anyone who has ever met Peter will promise you he did not have a mean bone in his body. He treated everybody with the same kindness and respect and was respected and loved in return. The staff at Nahanni Inn were his family, and his seat at the coffee shop will always remain known as Peter's spot. He passed on after leading a peaceful life as a very humble man who sought no recognition. We will sadly miss him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Our condolences to the family, and also to the region as well. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to take this opportunity to welcome and recognize Yellowknife North constituent and resident Dave Ramsay, former MLA and former Minister for our government.

I also would like to take this opportunity to recognize Pages Jaylen Base and Kristen Grey from Mildred Hall who are Yellowknife North residents, and thank all the Pages for the tremendous work they do for our Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. David Ramsay, the former Member for Kam Lake. He has left big shoes to fill, and that is a good thing. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize David Ramsay. Welcome. Good to see you again. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Did we miss anyone in the gallery? It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Welcome. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statement of a moment ago regarding the RCMP staffing levels in Hay River, I would like to direct these questions to the Minister of Justice. The RCMP presented to the GNWT a request and a business case for two additional general duty constables in Hay River. Will the department include these positions in next year's budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is working closely with "G" Division to develop a business case to support additional policing resources in the community and is working its way through the GNWT planning process for 2018-2019. We have heard not only from the Member opposite but from the RCMP about this request, which does seem reasonable. Thank you.

I understand that upcoming budgets are often kept pretty close to the chest, so I appreciate that answer. I will take that as a positive. One of the other issues I touched on is how the RCMP are responsible for duties that sheriffs are generally responsible for in other jurisdictions.

My question is: why can we not put the responsibility for transporting and overseeing prisoners to and from court and while they are in court on the sheriffs instead of the RCMP? I am sure it is a much cheaper option, and there is already a sheriff in the courtroom. Why can we not do this?

The department and the RCMP have formed a committee to review current practices and recommend the most effective model for providing prisoner security. Currently we are looking at the situation in Yellowknife, and this would appear to make sense in many ways.

I know that, in Nunavut, I think exclusively in Iqaluit, the sheriffs have taken over duties that were formerly conducted by the RCMP. We will be looking at this, initially for the Yellowknife courthouse, but perhaps, after that, looking at other communities where this might also create efficiencies.

That is a great start. Another issue that takes up the time of the RCMP, and it is tied in with this last one, is the prisoner transport to and from Yellowknife to attend court in the South Slave. They have to do that because the remand centre in Hay River is no longer being used. This comes at a cost to the RCMP.

That is the RCMP budget that is used to transport the prisoners, and they do not even get the GNWT rate when it comes to flights. Can I ask the Minister: why does the RCMP not get the GNWT rate for these flights, and can we get it for them to save them a few bucks and put that back into community safety?

Of course, the RCMP is a federal agency and have their own procurement rules, but I am happy to have our department working with the RCMP to see if efficiencies and cost savings can be found.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, this is something I have brought up in the House many times, and it is all tied in with everything we have just been speaking about. The remand centre in Hay River is not being used. This would save the RCMP money, and it would save everyone time.

I would like to ask the Minister: can I get an analysis of why the remand centre in Hay River cannot be used? What I always get is it is a minimum security centre. Well, there is a remand centre surrounded by a minimum security centre. Remand is located in minimum security prisons in Alberta, other places in Canada, and places in Australia. Why can we not do it here? Why can we not put that back into use? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand that the last time that the remand centre was used in Hay River was 2005. Inmates on remand are considered high-risk, and for that reason they have to be housed in a medium- or maximum-security facility, and currently the facility in Hay River is minimum-security. Housing remand inmates in that facility would hinder the operations, simply because the facility, as I mentioned, is minimum-security, not medium or maximum, which is required.

I do know that there is a lot of traffic of prisoners back and forth to court, and that can add some additional expenses. I am hoping that members of my profession will be using video conferencing more often to reduce some of those costs.

It is really a matter of security to have Hay River act again as a remand centre. It would require considerable changes to the facility as it now stands to raise it from minimum to a medium or maximum, and at this time we are not contemplating those costs. Thank you.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure questions on Highway No. 6; that is Highway No. 6 that runs into Fort Resolution. I would like to ask the Minister what the current status of the highway is insofar as the construction phase. Whether they are currently on the highway, they are shut down for the winter, that type of status, I am looking for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.