Thank you. So the Member stated that, you know, we need some short-term solutions to deal with the situation we're facing now. And so the focus -- my focus has been on supporting the RCMP, getting more resources to the territory in terms of RCMP and legislative tools for the RCMP, and working with them in any way we can to ensure that they can kick down doors when they need to, and they did deter criminals from coming up here, and then they can just disrupt the life of drug dealers. And so that has been the focus. As I've said, going forward we do need to look at the long term -- the long term. It's not sustainable to just keep adding more and more RCMP. We're not -- we don't want to suggest let drugs and gangs take over and increase the RCMP as that happens. So we really need to look at situations like the Member's mentioned, about having the RCMP work with other departments, like social workers. The RCMP are open to that. The conversations I've had, they know they can't kick down every door and, you know, jail every drug dealer in the territory. And they're frustrated with some of the roadblocks that have been put in front of them. And they recognize that the solution many times is those other supports, to stop people from getting addicted to drugs, to lower the demand for drugs. And when they're interacting with people in those situations, to ensure that they have the -- can provide those people with the proper supports. And so I don't believe there's been discussions with the RCMP about integrated service delivery.

In terms of what is happening over in EIA as of yet, we are still trying to create that model, ensure it is robust as we bring partners in. But that is certainly the future, I believe, in the territory. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. Thank you for the response from the Premier as well. Is there any correlated data between the strength of the economy and the increased rates of crime? And by that, I mean we've seen a dip in economic activity since the pandemic and also an increase in crime. So is there a correlation between kind of a softening economy and the increased rates of crime, addictions, and cross-border drug trafficking? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you. When there's an influx of money, you can see an influx of crime. When there is an economic collapse, you can see an influx of crime. And so there's correlations in many different ways. I don't think we've seen the dramatic shifts in our economy that we would -- we could say led to an increase in crime at this point. That being said, I have not confirmed with the stats bureau on any type of correlation that there may be. Thank you.

Thank you. The next Member I have is Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm actually very appreciative that we're having this conversation that's sort of a more nuanced acknowledgement of the fact that, you know, we can't necessarily solve crime with more police. And I think people know that, but it's easy especially when drug crime and violence associated with it is devastating so many of our communities. We want to find something we can do now, and more police seems like the way to solve it. And I don't think it's the complete solution, especially, you know, recently our standing committee was up in Inuvik and speaking to the RCMP there and certainly drug trafficking and crime is a huge problem in Inuvik and the Beaufort Delta, and yet the RCMP officer was telling us how frustrating it is that, you know, they'll spend weeks or months and then finally make an arrest or catch a drug dealer, and the very next day someone else will pop up and take their place. And so there seems to be an endless supply coming from somewhere of more and more and more people who will continue this trade. And so I can appreciate the frustration from the RCMP's point of view, and really the whole community's point of view that, you know, we could probably spend endless amounts of resources chasing after drug dealers and not really solve the problem, which is scary and frustrating so I think, you know, inevitably we do have to look at different ways to approach this and trying to, as much as we can, prevent the demand for the drugs in our communities and tackle those mental health and addictions issues.

I did want to ask, you know, we're significantly increasing our levels of police. Has the Minister considered whether we also need to increase resources for court services, legal aid services? Because if we're going to be arresting lots more people, won't we need more resources in those other parts of the system? Has that been contemplated?

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you. So if someone qualifies for legal aid, then the Legal Aid Commission, if they don't have staff lawyers, can contract outside lawyers. So we haven't been looking at increases in legal aid. And as well, many of these individuals who are coming up from the south don't access -- who are arrested for these drug crimes don't access our legal aid. They have high-priced lawyers in major centres. Thank you.

Thank you. Go back to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. And what about court services, will that budget need to increase too?

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you. In the past few years, we have had some increases in our court officers. Because it is -- they have been stretched prior to this happening. I'll tell you a tough area to get support in a budget is for administrative positions and, you know, court services are no different. So people want frontline staff. They want money for health care. They don't necessarily want people who work in offices with paper despite the fact that they can -- you know, some of the work they do is invaluable. So we try to balance where we put our resources, and we try to do the best that we can with what we have. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll just conclude by saying, you know, it's up to the Minister and Cabinet to really figure out what we need and make that argument to us, even if new positions or aspects aren't popular. I think that's part of the job, and those need to be explained both to the public and to Members why it's needed. So if that's needed, let's hear about it. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there any further questions? I'm going to go to Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to confirm the -- before I ask the question, make sure I'm on the right page, we're still discussing the area that covers ATIPP?

No.

Apologies. My apologies, I'm one page in advance. I shall wait my turn. Thank you.

Okay. Is there any further questions? Seeing none, I'm going to continue on. No further questions. Please turn to page 320.

Justice, policing services, operations expenditures summary, 2024-2025 Main Estimates $61,067,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Moving on to services to government on page 321, with information items on page 323 and 324. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I won't steal the Member from YK Centre's questions at all. It's about something different under this section.

So I want to thank the department and the Minister for flagging in their risk and mitigation activities of the business plan on page 211 that the department must regularly adjust legislation, programs, and services with the associated cost implications to ensure that alignment with federal initiatives, etcetera, etcetera.

I guess my question would be around the legislation division. So, you know, let alone the number of LPs in just simply the Department of Justice, the function of the legislation division acts as a drafter for the entire government. So what metrics does Justice have in place for quality but expedient work on the drafting of legislation noting that Members are eager to see legislation and there's quite a large body of legislation anticipated in this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.