Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, we have significant renewable and non-renewable energy resources, including an extensive potential in natural gas and hydroelectricity right in our backyard.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, through its newly created energy unit and working with other departments and agencies, is now leading the development of a GNWT energy plan to develop and secure access to its own future and alternate energy sources. Developing these resources will serve not only to reduce energy costs in our communities, but also to generate new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll admit that I don’t know exactly when the RCMP make the determination or for which cases they make the determination to call in the services of the Rangers. I’ll endeavour to find out, and I can report back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t speak for my colleagues, but I would indicate to the Member and to the House that they’ve been very receptive. We have discussed a number of priorities for the upcoming meetings. The First Nations policing policy and the extension of that to the North is one of the first priorities. I think this fits well in that regard also.

The Member should know that under our current policing arrangement we’re responsible for 70 percent of the costs for regular officers. One of the reasons we’re interested in the expansion of the First Nations policing policy is that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll ask the department to have a look and see what exactly we have that we could provide to committee. Again, I want to assure the Member that we are starting preliminary discussions around this. The community consultations on policing have reflected and provided us with the feedback that communities are interested in reviewing this. Again, very preliminary; we’re just now sitting down to discuss it, but I would certainly be prepared to share with the Member and committee any of the briefing materials that I have in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to recognize a constituent, Gayla Wick, who is here representing the Union of Northern Workers, and also chief and friend, Leon Lafferty. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since his appointment to that position. I am very happy for you, Mr. Lafferty. I know you are going to do a wonderful job for that community, and welcome back. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the RCMP have protocols. I know that the Municipal and Community Affairs department does have some disaster assistance. How those roles dovetail I’m not exactly clear, but I will get back to the Member and report back. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me start by offering my condolences to the Hardisty and Horesay families. I know that this has been a very difficult time for the community. I’d also say that we do appreciate the efforts of the LKFN and the entire community in the search effort. Public concern was raised about how it was conducted and, as the Member knows, there’s now a full review being conducted of that work to make sure that it was done properly. If not, recommendations will flow from that that would speak to the protocols, but it’s too early for me to know exactly what the outcomes will be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the first thing we need to do is assess the feasibility of the reintroduction of special constables. This is a program that’s not, to my knowledge, used across the country anymore and I think what we’re looking for is a specially designed program that recognizes the needs of the North. I’m not sure entirely how fast we can move this. I’ll certainly press the case. I’d like to sit down in November with my colleagues from the Yukon and Nunavut. We meet with the other federal, provincial and territorial Justice Ministers to talk about priorities. This is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been a number of community policing consultations recently. Out of those discussions the issue of special constables has been raised. I want to assure the Member and the House that our government is interested in having a police force that’s representative of the general public and representative of the population in communities. So we’re very interested in better understanding how we can move closer toward that.

Our approach the past number of years has been to look at the First Nations policing policy and try to get that expanded. I think Members know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we already have the RCMP that provide that service, and I think the first thing for me to do is to determine exactly what the protocols are that are currently in existence, and find out if they’re meeting the needs of our communities. I will speak to the RCMP, report back to the Member, and then I think we can have a discussion around whether or not those are adequate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.