Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In general, because it takes 5.5 PYs to fill one position on a 24/7 operation, what we are talking about is generally one. If there had been in the past, two casuals called in per shift on average, now we are talking about having only one called in on average. I’m afraid I don’t know what the average has been or how many are called in on a regular basis, so I don’t know what the impact is going to be. But it would certainly be something that we could find out from historical data and ask the warden to advise the casual contingent what the likely impact is going to be...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I said earlier today, It’s my intention to work with the RCMP to develop a phased approach to responding to the communities that do not have RCMP and then work with my colleagues to see how we might address that. I can’t say that specifically it’s going to impact this way or that way because it really does depend on what the costs turn out to be for each community and then how my colleagues agree to move forward to address those costs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t commit because it is a federal program. It is not one that we offer. We deliver the program in order to make it easier for people to access it in the Northwest Territories. But I will commit to advising the standing committee, by the time we get into business plans, the results of the latest communication that I have with the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have the schedule for all communities, but at the table here we can remember one community: Sachs Harbour. Generally the schedule now allows for the RCMP to go in every three weeks for a couple of days, unless there is an incident that requires them to attend in between. But the regular visits would happen every three weeks for a couple of days.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Not all requests for supplementary appropriations are approved by FMBS. There is a supplementary reserve that is built into our budget and it’s fairly common for requests for supplementary funding to be rejected by the FMBS and not included in supplementary funding. I can’t speak to a situation. I think that each request is considered on its own merits. I guess it would depend on what the request was for, whether or not it would be supported. If it wasn’t supported then I’m not sure how it would be dealt with.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the closure of the remand unit, we would have 4.5 extra full-time employees that would be worked into the workforce. So it would depend on whether there was anybody who was sick or went on holidays. There would be a number of different factors. It would depend on whether or not casual workers would be called into work on that day. The Member asked about April 1st. It really does depend on the demand that day for backfill, whether or not casual workers will be called in. But there would be fewer casual workers called in generally on an ongoing basis through...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Groenewegen may characterize it as us driving more people to the court, but, you know, I don't believe that. I think that the way we're giving more money to community justice committees will, in fact, keep people out of the courts. They need the resources. That's right, they need the resources to be able to do it. It's amazing how much work these committees are doing right now, and some of them have been having trouble finding enough resources to keep on doing what they're doing and then increase their workload. We still have the resources...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The college offers upgrading programs in almost every community in the Northwest Territories. It is largely through their work that we are able to have our residents upgraded and ready to get into college. So the government does still provide a lot of assistance to that. Also in the Northwest Territories right now, we do have for residents, particularly along the Mackenzie River, access to funding through the ASEP program which will help NWT residents get training to be able to take on jobs in the oil and gas industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The six positions I talked about were part of the request from the RCMP to deal with providing a minimum level of service just in the communities that already have detachments. So those six members aren't intended to provide additional services to communities that don't already have services. I have already committed in the House that I will work on a business plan and try to advance the issue of dealing with communities that don't have service. So I don't think that it's an issue that needs a motion in the House; the commitment has already been made.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it’s important, too, to remember that a position is shown as vacant when you run those reports, even when it’s filled by a casual. There are an awful lot of positions, particularly at the North Slave Correctional Centre, which are filled by casuals right now because of the transition period now while we’re waiting to see whether or not anybody is interested in a transfer who is affected. Those positions are still being held and filled by casuals. The positions won’t necessarily be filled immediately until we finish our human resources plan, which is something...