Yes, I believe there are programs at the North Slave Correctional Centre that do have an Aboriginal component. The department currently offers a six-week national substance abuse program to federal and territorial inmates at the North Slave Correctional Centre, and I believe this has a wellness component involving programs for Aboriginal inmates, and hopefully, through programs such as this we can reduce the number of Aboriginal inmates, which is currently approximately 87 per cent of the population.

Territorial inmates can participate in many programs, both inside the corrections facilities and outside. Territorial inmates can participate in the addictions programs at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, which is facilitated by a traditional addictions counsellor with the support of elders and community resources. There are also other programs that they can participate in. Also, through the courts, there are manners of dealing with these types of problems, either through wellness courts or DVTO court.

Mr. Speaker, the Member raised certain issues in his speech, and certainly, the department is aware of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons in the corrections system. We are trying to address this by a series of programs. The department continues to improve the link between programs delivered to inmates in custody and community-based programs involving probation services, community justice and other departments and agencies such as Health and Social Services. We are also attempting to look at the underlying root causes and hopefully reduce the numbers referred to by the Member opposite. Thank you.

The Power Corporation is always looking at alternatives to diesel. We, of course, want to reduce our consumption of diesel energy and so others such as solar and wind are being looked as supplement, so that in the future if there are again low water levels, which is likely in the long term, that that issue can be dealt with not by using more diesel but by using solar, biomass, and other alternative energy sources.

I understand in speaking with senior management that they have not in fact used up all the money from past years so there is some left over. Long-term, to deal with this issue, there will probably need to be a connection with the continental grid, which would be, of course, very expensive. But again, their research indicates that the water levels of the last two years are the lowest since 1950, and they are very optimistic that water levels will be higher this year and there will not be a problem in the next few years.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, the Members of this House will know that in the last couple of years there have been significant contributions, $20 million one year and $27.5 million the last year to offset costs related to low water. I have spoken to senior management at the Power Corporation and they are optimistic that no further funds will be required going forward. Their research indicates that the very low water levels of the last two years were a real anomaly. Going back to 1950, it was the lowest they had seen, and they're optimistic that water levels will be higher this year and going forward, so hopefully, they will not require any more funds from this government. Thank you.

I think I can make that commitment. I will be in touch with the RCMP, and certainly if there are any changes in the issues of recruitment, we will be discussing those with them, and perhaps there will be tweaking of this policy. But they are fairly certain that this will not affect retention or recruitmen

Yes, we will of course be monitoring with the RCMP if there are any changes and if there are problems, and I assume that if there are issues of retention, they will speak with us and there may be further changes in policy. They are not expecting this change of policy to have any effect on the recruitment, as they already currently receive far more applications than there are positions, so they're not expecting a change in that. If there is a change in that area, I would expect they would consult with u

“G” Division continues, as I mentioned, to receive a large number of applications, and they don't expect that this change of housing policy will affect that. As I say, it is mainly an internal duty of the RCMP to look into this, and they are doing so. They will be consulting with us, but ultimately it's their decisio