Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Yellowknife Women's Society commissioned a report regarding the overpolicing of Indigenous women and a lot of the -- if you read the report carefully -- I'm sure the Minister of Justice has read it, you know, cover to cover as they say. But one of the things they underscore is the fact that, you know, the women feel they're overpoliced, and statistics probably prove that to some degree. Mr. Speaker, but the problem is there's no other reply or response to stepping up to the need when they're called because the RCMP cannot ignore that phone call.

So, Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Justice, who is probably familiar with the overall context of the problem is, is what other options are there for -- to redirect the need when you run into a problem if someone's intoxicated or under some types of drugs or influence other than sending the RCMP to continue care of the individual until they sober up or deal with whatever they're dealing with?

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, the idea that women in Yellowknife, and generally people in the NWT, are overpoliced, there could be some validity to that given that we have more RCMP per capita than anywhere else in Canada, twice as many as the Canadian average. So there definitely is a lot of policing. The RCMP also receive many, many, many calls from the shelters. If one of their clients is violating one of their policies, they will often call the RCMP to come and deal with that. So the RCMP do get those types of calls. They have turned into sort of the catchall for every issue that arises. And I know there's a better way to do things because the RCMP have other things to deal with other than basically, you know, addictions and public health issues. So in Yellowknife, I know there's the Street Outreach. In other communities, there's non-profits who similarly work with people who might be experiencing issues. But I think that going forward, you know, the future in the territory is going to have to involve some other collaboration between health care professionals and the RCMP for some of these issues perhaps. Whether it's social workers, I'm not quite sure at this point. But I'm very open to exploring other avenues because having the RCMP, who are there to enforce the Criminal Code, having them deal with, you know, people who are just too drunk in the middle of the day, that's not a good use of their time and it's not the best way for those people who are being arrested, you know, to be treated either. It's not an ideal situation but, unfortunately, it's the situation that we're in here just given the way that things have evolved. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the fact that the Minister -- or I should say Premier -- has a broader sense of the problem, and I can also appreciate the fact that we all might agree that RCMP may not be the best solution for a lot of cases here, including hospitals and whatnot.

Does the Premier -- or sorry, is the Minister willing to look and investigate into alternative tasks force to partner with the RCMP to ensure that these people are cared for to the abilities of what -- and responses they require, which often isn't jail? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to -- I don't want to say that we're going to develop some working group to look into these things, but what the Member is talking about is the way, I think, that we need to go forward. This government is integrating services. We have our homelessness strategy, which is really looking at how we can better support people who are experiencing homelessness, what sort of wraparound supports we can provide, how to better provide those supports. So that's the type of work that we are doing moving forward. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to provide some type of response to me before the beginning of the next session in the fall? That will give the department enough time to come up with some options and ideas that we'd be able to look at as a broader picture as a response to the issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to sit down with the Member, maybe have a conversation, maybe get a written question, just so I know I'm clear on what we're discussing. I'd like to -- I wish I could just say, you know what, we got some -- we do have things in mind. It's a matter of resourcing and all of that in order to get into fruition, but I'm happy to have a further discussion with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is for the Minister of Justice. So has the GNWT considered legislation that would increase security at the border? Can we prevent people who are on bail in other jurisdictions from entering the NWT? Thank you.

Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Build that wall. I'm just joking, of course. The territorial border, it is a -- you know, it is a border but in Canada, there are mobility rights. We can't just stop people at the border and search their vehicles. There was a time when it was easier to do that. But unfortunately, we don't have that ability. So what we do is we work with -- or the RCMP, I suppose, undertakes investigations. They try their best to stop drugs before they come into the territory. And I always say, we need people to bring information forward. The RCMP need credible tips to act upon. So I'd recommend that anyone with that type of information, reach out to the RCMP. If they don't feel comfortable reaching out to the RCMP, reach out to Crime Stoppers, and you can provide that information anonymously. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Minister to Make NWT Great Again.

Mr. Speaker, in small communities, many parents are complaining about young people on income support. The young people are not buying groceries but paying off debts to drug dealers and/or drug dealers waiting for them on income support day outside Northern stores. So I want to ask the Minister how can the GNWT support the RCMP to reduce crime associated with drug trades and, you know, that goes with harassment and vandalism and thefts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And when I was answering the Member's questions earlier, I spoke about some of the initiatives that this government wants to undertake and provide additional tools to the RCMP. But ultimately, this starts in the community. You know, when I've heard of communities really getting past their drug issues, it's been at the grassroots level that has driven it. And so, you know, public safety is in our mandate. Dealing with this issue is in our mandate. So I look forward to working with the Indigenous governments, many of whom have a very strong interest in this area as well and I've had many conversations with, and with the Members of this House, to figure out how to tackle these issues and better support our residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Colleagues, the time is up. Oral questions. Written questions. Return to written questions. Relies to the Commissioner's address. Petitions. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for PUB, Public Utilities Board.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: The Annual Report Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board for the Year Ending December 31, 2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Public Utilities Board. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 127-20(1): Policies and Future of Housing Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Tabling of documents. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Tabling of documents. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a letter from the Northwest Territories Medical Association regarding their Submission of the NWT Medical Association in Response to the Call for Submissions for Restoring Balance: A Fiscal Sustainability Strategy for the 20th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move -- or sorry, I give notice that on Thursday, May 30th, 2024, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that the Legislative Assembly recommend the reappointment of the following individuals to the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission:

• Ms. Marion Berls of the Town of Fort Smith for the term of four years; and,
• Mr. Charles Dent of the City of Yellowknife for a term of four years.

And further, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective dates of these appointments to the Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Notices of motion. Motions. Member from Range Lake.