David Ramsay

Thank you, Madam Chair. Most of the time the coroner would be invited into the premises. In the case that they’re not, that’s something that is included in the bill and can be addressed. I’m going to go to Mr. Aitken for some further detail on that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The total allotted to the Not Us! campaign by the Department of Justice is $100,000 per year. Communities can be provided with up to $10,000 to create and implement their own campaigns in their own communities, plus up to $5,000 annually as well.

We’ve had some success in a number of communities across the Northwest Territories, Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard, Fort Smith, Gameti, Hay River, Ndilo, Detah, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok, and also here in Yellowknife.

It’s very important that that message continue to get out. As the Minister of Justice, along with my counterparts from across the country, we’re deeply concerned with the number of deaths that are caused by the illegal drug fentanyl, and I think that’s something that we have to be acutely aware of as well. I know we’ve had some recent seizures of that drug here in Yellowknife. It’s very alarming.

We do have RCMP patrols, and one of the seizures that I spoke of earlier was near the community of Tulita where a jet boat was intercepted with a number of bottles of liquor on board. Also, road checks...

That would be an operational decision of the RCMP, but what I can say is in the 12 years that I’ve been a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I don’t recall a year where we’ve seen more drug seizures, illegal alcohol going into communities. We’ve had just today another three seizures in small communities across the NWT, and the number of drug busts is really something. It really gets back to the great police work that the RCMP are providing for us here in the NWT, and also campaigns like the Not Us! campaign and also Crime Stoppers. At the end of the day, community members have just had enough...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “2014-2015 Report of the Legal Aid Commission.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The only way we are going to rid our communities of bootleggers and drug dealers is to let the authorities know. In the communities, folks can contact the local detachments. If they want anonymity they can look to Crime Stoppers, and we’ve advanced the Crime Stoppers board here. There’s a renewed effort to get that board up and active here in the Northwest Territories. We’re very encouraged by that. There are opportunities for folks to provide information to the RCMP whether it’s anonymously or through the local detachments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome all visitors to the gallery today. We have some special guests visiting us from the Yukon. We have the Deputy Premier of the Yukon, the Honourable Elaine Taylor; her deputy minister, Murray Arsenault; and from the Premier’s office, Jonas Smith; and I’d also like to welcome a former Member of the House, Mr. Roy Erasmus; and, again, everybody else who’s with us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 19-17(5): Report on the Review of the 2015 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Corrections in the Northwest Territories.”

Mr. Speaker, providing our residents with opportunities to make healthy choices is a priority that has strong support from this Assembly and the Government of the Northwest Territories.

This support extends to all citizens, including those serving sentences in a correctional facility. Progress made by the Department of Justice over the past six months will mean inmates looking to make better choices and return to their communities as healthy, contributing members will be better supported.

In March of this year, we received a report and recommendations from the Office of the Auditor...

Yes, the department and the regions do a lot of work on looking at our infrastructure when the park season ends, cataloguing areas of concern, places where we need to look at making some investment and upgrading and looking at maintenance issues. This is done, and I know when you’re dealing with the travelling public and our residents using our parks, it’s very important that that work happen every year. We also have park officers and park staff who frequent the parks during the park season that are consistently bringing issues to our concern, and they can be addressed in a timely fashion.