David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Justice and I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice, going back to the petition I talked about in my Member’s statement, the fact that 98 inmates at North Slave Correctional Centre have signed a petition calling for an addiction treatment centre to be re-opened here in the Northwest Territories. I’m wondering what the Minister can tell me about how his department, the Department of Justice, works with Health and Social Services in trying to find out why inmates are in the correctional system and how we might be...

Thank you. Next I recognize Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple more questions that I would like to ask. The first one relates to some funding for the community of Ndilo, $29,000 to plan and design a new subdivision. I have been down in Ndilo many times, and I am just wondering where exactly in the community of Ndilo are they planning on putting a subdivision. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The subject of my Member’s statement today is addictions. I have come at this addictions issue from a variety of different angles and today I have another one. The North Slave Correctional Centre is located in the riding of Kam Lake. Being that Kam Lake is the riding I represent, I get to speak with many persons who are incarcerated at North Slave Correctional Centre. Just last spring, I was presented with a petition from the inmates in regard to the health services that were being provided at the centre. The Department of Justice made the necessary changes to the...

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I am quite concerned actually about this, in the fact that other boards that are out there that are operating look to this and they can see the fact that they have been running up operating deficits for a number of years and then by the stroke of a pen, through a supp, their entire accumulated deficit is gone. I think it is a pretty scary precedent to set, Madam Chairperson, that we can allow boards to operate, run up deficits and then come through a supp and get over $2 million to just wipe out the deficit. It doesn’t seem right to me, Madam Chairperson, and I...

Mr. Dent.

That is good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Minister.