David Ramsay

I would be happy to provide Members with a terms of reference on the make-up, composition of this committee. Again, this advisory board is going to be populated at the discretion of the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I will get the best people on that board to give this government and myself the best advice we can receive so we can have a jurisdiction companies want to invest in to help us develop the resources we have here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The appointments to the board will be at my discretion. Again, Mr. Speaker, these will be industry experts. We will be looking for a cross-section of experience from producers to explorers to folks in the service side. We are still working on who is going to populate this advisory board. It’s an industry advisory board; it’s not a social advocacy board. We will populate it with people we will get information from that will help us develop a mining industry here in the Northwest Territories.

I will add that there’s ample opportunity for folks if they are interested in providing commentary on how...

Mr. Speaker, communities have worked with the RCMP to develop policing priorities and action plans that designate specific priorities to make our communities safer. I would like to share with Members how this collaboration is making a difference in our communities.

Stopping bootlegging and stemming the inflow of prohibited liquor is a main focus for many communities. This priority is very important, especially around Christmas, holidays and other community events. It requires active participation by everyone, including community members and leaders, RCMP and partners, to combat bootlegging and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for your indulgence. I’ll start with the ICM and the pilot in Inuvik. We’re happy to hear the support from the Member and other Members on that rollout. We’re excited about getting that pilot up and running in Inuvik. We’re interested, again, in trying to do things a bit differently and trying to work not from silos but include others. So we’re anxious to see that happen.

On the men who use violence, we have had some referrals to the Tree of Peace. The program is going to start back up in March. So we’re hopeful that this will be successful. It’s a program that’s...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It would be my pleasure. To my right is Ms. Sylvia Haener, deputy minister for the Department of Justice; to my left, Ms. Kim Schofield, director of corporate services with the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present the 2015-2016 Main Estimates for the Department of Justice. Overall the department’s estimates propose an increase of $3.8 million, or 3.1 percent, over the 2014-2015 estimates.

These estimates represent the work of the department for the administration of a justice system for the Northwest Territories that is open, accessible and responsive to the needs of the people we serve. We are presenting a budget that continues to be prudent and responsible. Accordingly, we are presenting $809,000 in expenditure reductions and reducing $992,000 through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two visitors with us in the gallery today: Ms. Cathie Bolstad, executive director, NWT Tourism, and also with her is Mr. Ron Ostrom. He’s the director of marketing with NWT Tourism. I want to thank both of them for all the great work they do in our partnership in marketing the Northwest Territories around the world. Thank you.

There would be a wide range of equipment and facilities that would be required, and again, the department is interested in talking to interested folks across the territory that have responded, about what equipment they have, what services they have, what facilities they have, so that we can get a program up and running here in the NWT once again. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Members for their support for wilderness and on-the-land programming. I know there are a number of Members interested in seeing the Department of Justice move forward with this initiative. Last year we were unsuccessful. Earlier this year, on January 20th, we had an REOI, a request for expressions of interest, across the Northwest Territories looking for proponents to help us get a wilderness, camp set up so we can have programs for inmates here in the Northwest Territories. That closed on the 20th of this year, 2015, and we had a number of folks...

Again, this is an industry advisory panel to the Minister. They will also be able to provide input to other Ministers as needed. In the Northwest Territories today, we have a very stringent regulatory system. Again, there’s ample opportunity for the public and groups to comment on developments as they occur. We can’t lose sight of the fact that this is an industry advisory panel and nothing more, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.