Thank you, Madam Chair. And how successful is it, I guess? Are we looking at potential expansion of it or contraction? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Justice.

Thank you. So this program, it is -- it's a program to put officers in communities and the way they police is what's called community policing. So it is working with the community; it's getting to know the community. That's the whole idea. We do that across the territory. That's the way the RCMP operates across the territory so they integrate well into the rest of -- with the rest of the RCMP. And we are actually looking -- we are discussing whether or not we can expand that program. For many years, we did pursue the federal government and tried to get an increase to our allocation. I believe we had five members funded through that for the longest time. And a couple years ago got an increase of another four. And we would like to see more because it is a 50/50 cost share as opposed to 70/30. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I was just looking at the 2021 -- or 2021-2022 actuals, and it's showing at $1.55 million, and then in the main and revised we're looking at $429,000. What's the big change there? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Justice.

Thank you. That would be the five additional members. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you. Also in the biology case work, I see a decrease there from 275 to 183, is that correct?

Thank you. Minister of Justice.

Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Bancroft.

Mr. Bancroft.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I recall there being a discussion, I think, at one time about reporting of, I guess, the RCMP or the head office here to somewhere in Alberta now. Is that something that's happening, or if you can maybe provide some background information or some context to it? No?

Minister of Justice.

Thank you. No.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With the increase in I guess -- or it appears there's an increase in drugs coming in the territories and, you know, increase in, you know, addictions and that type of thing. Is there anything in the budget incorporated to address that area because it seems like drugs are, you know, the big problem in all areas. It's -- you know, it's in -- it's in, you know, the health. It's in, you know, suicide. It's in violent crimes, all that. So I'm just wondering how much effort that the RCMP would be putting into that area now as we see that increase keep climbing. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Justice.

Thank you. So I have met with the commanding officer on this as well as other detachment commanders across the territory. And I know that they are focusing on it. They are seeing these increases. And this is what they do, they enforce the law. And when it comes to drugs, they see the negative impacts; they know that where we are now is in a better position than where we could be in the future and they're doing their best to try and stop us from getting to that. So there has been an increased focus. As well I've been working with the department to try and figure out what we can do on our side to get better data about what's going on, to see what sort of civil legislation we might be able to enact to support the RCMP. And I think that the Member may have noticed an uptake in the number of drug busts that we're seeing. I know there was a long period in Hay River where we didn't really have a lot of those busts but we have seen a few of them now. So it is indicative of increased drug use and increased crime, but there's also showing that the RCMP are taking it seriously. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, and it's good to see that, you know, we are getting drugs off the street. And one thing I think we are getting hopefully a little bit of uptake from the public as well. So do you see or do you hear from the RCMP, you know, if we are getting more calls from the public with respect to, you know, drugs coming in or potential drugs coming into the territories?

Thank you. Minister of Justice.