Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. To the motion. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly won't need 20 minutes to speak on this one. I am supportive of the -- similar to kind of some previous speakers, I'm supportive of the general intent of this motion though I don't think the details, implications, and a full understanding of how it can be successfully implemented have been thought out at this time. However, I would note that there are several models already being implemented in neighboring jurisdictions so we can learn from and borrow from their experience.

Mr. Speaker, the Yukon has a program like this. There's programs in numerous cities across North America. So I would just encourage the government in responding to this motion to do research to ensure that any solutions brought forward are evidence-based, as I like to emphasize for virtually everything that we do, and just ensure that we are putting solutions in place which are right-sized for our territory, for our communities, and which we have seen through, you know, investigations into evidence that they will be effective and not have negative unintended consequences.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to kind of acknowledge that a large percentage of calls fielded by RCMP are noncriminal matters. And that's something that I heard a lot from the RCMP when I was on council. They would come and present to us often. And probably one of the most impactful meetings I had was with a previous head of the RCMP that came to council and actually asked us for a meeting in private to encourage us to invest in social services and invest in social solutions to so many of the problems that we see manifesting on the streets because his message to us is simply that we are not going to police our way out of this problem. And coming from the head of the RCMP, that was a really powerful message that I have kept in mind going forward in the work that I do in governance.

So I want to emphasize that a lot of the calls that RCMP are receiving are noncriminal matters, and they are better handled by our social services and health care providers. So this is not just limited to mental health crises. So I just want to note -- I'm not going to list everything, but let's be expansive in our considerations for implementation of a program like this, let's ensure that -- again, I just emphasize the need for evidence-based policy making and decision-making. So I'll leave my comments at that. I do support the general intent of the motion and for that reason, I'll stand in support of it today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. To the motion. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'll keep short and brief. I do agree with the intent of the motion, and I agree with much of what my colleagues have said here today, and I will be happy to support the motion. I think it's very important, as my colleague from Yellowknife North stated, that this will look different in every community. I think that this is currently framed in a sort of Yellowknife centric sort of way, so I hope that in the government's reply we have that fulsome breadth of a reply for what it might look like in some of our smaller communities as well.

I would also like to point out something that I heard from my colleague from Yellowknife North that, you know, there is a lack of places to go when the shelters are freed up but, you know, thankfully here in Yellowknife, we have a wellness and recovery centre on the books for the life of this Assembly, and I am thrilled that that is happening, Mr. Speaker, so I would love to see the response incorporate that. And that's about all I have right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. To the motion. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too think about and heard all the comments from the Members. I will support this motion but I would like the departments to look at how this will roll out in the small communities. It's good for us because we get another job; it would be a crisis intervention worker. And just to know how it's going to work in combination with health and social services, RCMP. That needs to be looked at. Otherwise, I will support the motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. To the motion. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting this motion. Anything to do with facing the challenges and the problems. Just recently, in the last number of hours, I received a couple of calls that there's many drugs coming into the Sahtu as we speak. So it's a continued crisis, the problems that are being faced, seen in public, it's terrible. So it's a terrible situation, and we need all the tools in the toolbox to move ahead, and if it's going to be an added solution to the crisis that's out there, yes, I will support that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. To the motion. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. To the motion. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting this motion because in my community of Fort McPherson, I've seen the resource people, specifically the RCMP, have been exhausted to where they're unable to come out to investigate any crimes because they're not trained or -- to go out and deal with family violence or any other family issues. So this motion will give direction to the government to help these resource people in a better manner. So just to let you know that I will be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. To the motion. Member from Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members may recall that I have already spoken on this topic, and I've stated that this is the direction that I would like to see things move. The RCMP, as has been stated, should be dealing with crimes, not with mental health issues, but they have become the default service provider in that area. And so while I know there might be hopes of 24/7 support in every community around the territory, I don't want anyone to get their hopes up that we're going to have around-the-clock services like that any time soon with, you know, three shifts in every community, 99 social workers working around the clock. But that being said, I've had discussions with the RCMP on this. I've communicated to my department that I want to see us move in this direction. And so regardless of this motion, work is beginning. Thank you.

Oh, and Mr. Speaker, microphone is still on, so I will say that as always, Cabinet would like to take our 120 days to respond to this motion. When something like this comes in, there's a lot of things to consider, and we want to make sure that we take that time and fully consider it and provide a response. So we will be abstaining. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Hay River North. To the motion. To conclude the motion, Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off, I want to thank all the committee members on this side of the House for their very rich and important and thoughtful comments. Mr. Speaker, a couple of them I want to highlight.

First of all, I'll start with the Member on my left, for Range Lake. These are the types of issues on his agenda, constantly raising with committee, trying to support community members. You know, and I often hear him say he recognizes the Mackenzie Delta Member who's dealing with his challenges in his community. I hear the Member from the Sahtu talk about the community impacts that drugs and alcohol are having, and we have to find different ways of doing this. Mr. Speaker, we could talk about every Member, but I think the Member of Deh Cho said it's an important creation of resources in their community, and she'd like to see the roll out of this in smaller communities. And I couldn't support it more, any more than that. I do fully, fully agree.

Mr. Speaker, crime is changing, and we have to respond to it differently, and I hate thinking -- I hate the situation where we treat all crime the same because social issues aren't crime. And unhoused and addictions are not crime in my view. I mean -- and, you know, we can talk about that until the cows come home, but the truth is I really don't believe that unhoused and addictions in any way is a crime. It's a crime not doing anything. And I know it's tough to solve all solutions, I want to stress that. But by doing nothing I think is truly the crime.

So, Mr. Speaker, this, as many Members have recognized, it's a tool. I recognize MLA for Frame Lake has pointed out there are models and options out there. I'll be the first to say don't just go by the option I'm presenting today. I'll say if there's a workable option to find ways, take it. It's not about -- sometimes debate isn't about trying to win, Mr. Speaker. And I refer to win an argument. It's about trying to find the best solution. Sometimes people get caught up -- hypersensitive about raising our voice and getting engaged in issues. But, really, debate shouldn't be an argument, it should be about how do we get the best result. And that's what hopefully this is really about, getting the best result for all ridings by all means.

So, Mr. Speaker, I'll close with thanking everyone. And I also want to thank the Premier in his comments. It sounded like he fully supported the motion. And I'm sure that's what I heard, and I'll have to go back to Hansard to confirm that one way or the other, so I'll do that on my own time. But that said, I was really -- we were all moved by his wonderful statements in support of these types of ideas.

So, Mr. Speaker, I've already asked for a recorded vote, and I'll leave it at that. And, again, I thank everyone for hearing this out and sharing today. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. To the motion.

Question has been called. The Member from Yellowknife Centre has asked for a recorded vote. For those all in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

Colleagues, 11 in favour, zero opposed, 7 abstentions. Motion has passed.

---Carried

Motions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS local authorities are currently responsible for the development and implementation of their emergency plans;

AND WHEREAS the local emergency plan is the first line of defense to keep residents of the Northwest Territories safe and informed when responding to natural disasters or other similar emergencies;

AND WHEREAS Municipal and Community Affairs currently provides guidance to local authorities to create emergency plans but there is no requirement for the Minister to fund, draft, or assess these plans;

AND WHEREAS, the current form of community emergency plans throughout municipal and community governments can fairly be described as standalone orphan plans;

AND WHEREAS, without general uniformity of emergency plans, there is little consistency with respect to community emergency plan details, themes and overlapping partnership agreements, which would help ensure the plans coordinate together in cases of regional needs, and consistent and contiguous to the Northwest Territories emergency management plans;

AND WHEREAS there is currently no obligation for public transparency of these community emergency plans;

AND WHEREAS residents in Northwest Territories communities were threatened as they fled for safety in recent flooding and wildfire events and, in some cases, felt a sense of lack of coordination and disconnect between leadership and partners;

AND WHEREAS the Minister has the authority under the Act to direct a review and analyze these plans, however, the Department does not fund these plans directly, which is then left up to municipal and community government to resolve this challenge in the absence of much needed resources, expertise, and funding;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs direct the emergency management organization to draft all emergency plans for every Northwest Territories community over the next two years to ensure all plans are reasonably and consistently done;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs provide financial support to all applicable governments, to allow them to fine-tune and complete their specific community emergency plan reflective of their specific community needs, inventorying of assets and assessment of their partners and supports;

AND FURTHERMORE, once a community plan is prepared, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs posts each community emergency plan on the Municipal and Community Affairs website to ensure they are publicly accessible for transparency;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs acquire the resources for each community to ensure all plans are reviewed and practiced from time to time, based on reasonable industry standards, which will demonstrate leadership and confidence in these safety plans for all Northwest Territories residents;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion in 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.