David Ramsay

I haven’t given this any thought. What the Member is suggesting would certainly change the role and the scope of the coroner’s office. That’s something that we can take away and perhaps, you know, if there is a suggestion coming from the Member or the standing committee, that’s something we can get them a response to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I mentioned that earlier, that was a ballpark number. If you have 20 or 22 vacant positions, you could arrive at a number, but that’s not going to be the number you have to go with because it’s always changing and evolving. On an annual basis the vacancy rate at the Department of Justice is roughly 9 percent. We continue to fill positions to the best of our ability day in and day out, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re currently piloting that Community Safety Strategy in three communities in the Northwest Territories and we will be evaluating how that goes and looking to ensure that if it’s successful then getting it into as many other communities across the territory as we can. It’s still in its early stages but we hope to see it expand past the three that are being piloted.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The turnaround time for court services here in the Northwest Territories is one of the best in the country. The issue the Member is raising on going from four weeks to six weeks, that’s the first that I’ve heard of that. If the Member has a specific occurrence or situation in one of his communities that he wants us to have a look at the amount of time, I mean, that’s something we can inquire as to the length of time that it’s taken and respond back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are we departing from the way things have been going? Are we going through general comments and then I’m expected to answer all the questions at the end, or do you want me to answer questions one after the other?

The Business Incentive Policy is there so we can support businesses here in the Northwest Territories. Again, it is another tool that this government uses to ensure dollars stay in the Territories. I’ve been here just over 10 years and this issue about BIP comes up at least once a year. We’ve had a number of revisions and changes to it over the past decade, and if the Member and Regular Members feel it’s necessary to go through another process of taking a look at BIP, how we can improve it, areas we feel we should be looking at, that’s something I would be happy to sit down with the Regular...

Mr. Chairman, that is the first that I have heard of those types of reports. We can have the department go back and ask court services if they are familiar with those types of reports and where they go and how they could be utilized if there are some good recommendations in there. It might be an avenue worth exploring. Thank you.

For that detail, perhaps we’ll go to Deputy Minister Haener.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a difficult situation when you are dealing with the adult population in our correctional facilities. We are not alone in that, the prevalence of FASD across the country. Other jurisdictions are in a similar situation as us in trying to determine the prevalence of FASD. We have a diagnostic team at Stanton Territorial Hospital but they deal with youth and it is very much intensive. You require the services of a psychologist, a specialized pediatrician and also other health care providers, so it is something that is not easily arrived at, but we do have that...

Mr. Chairman, we did come prepared to answer the questions. A lot of this information was provided to committee two weeks ago. The Members made assumptions on vacant positions and what their value is. If you have 42 positions and we filled 20 of them, that leaves you with 22 vacant positions. You can do the math quickly for what a full encumbered position costs the Government of the Northwest Territories and figure that out easily. It’s not rocket science.

Again, it is a rolling average, Mr. Chairman, and something that not just the Department of Justice deals with, but every department across...