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.
R.J. Simpson on Question 203-20(1): RCMP Responding to Addictions-Related Calls
In the Legislative Assembly on May 28th, 2024. See this statement in context.
Question 203-20(1): RCMP Responding to Addictions-Related Calls
Oral Questions
May 28th, 2024
Page 521
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