David Ramsay

Mr. Chairman, that other vehicle, if the one vehicle is in Behchoko, would still be required to transport a court party to the airport or pick up a court party from the airport, their equipment and the court party itself. So there is a requirement to have vehicles of a similar nature located here in Yellowknife to carry out the duties of the sheriff’s office. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have witnesses.

I thought the deputy and myself have made it quite clear that there have been incidents. It shouldn’t matter to what degree those incidents happened. Some of them have been serious in nature, and when you are dealing with a rental office and people are facing the prospect of perhaps losing the place they live, they are under a tremendous amount of pressure, and we can’t be too safe when it comes to protecting the employees we have, because when people are faced with that type of pressure, sometimes people don’t deal with that pressure very well and they lash out at these front-line workers...

Mr. Chairman, the other vehicle will be sent to Hay River to replace a sheriff’s vehicle in Hay River. So, yes, it will need to be of a similar class with the seating capacity, equipment, storage capacity, towing capacity, and that vehicle, when the new one comes on line, the existing vehicle will be put and utilized in the community of Hay River. Again, the ability to transport the court party is paramount in this. We’ll have one in Hay River and one here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you. I’m very well aware of the situation in the port of Hay River, being a former Minister of Transportation, and yes, we do talk extensively about dredging. Not just in Hay River, but there are other areas in the Northwest Territories that require dredging, and I’m fully aware of the situation in Hay River, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I think we should be more focused on the health and safety risks as opposed to what constitutes an incident. We can’t be too safe when it comes to protecting the employees that we have.

To get to the Member’s question, we are looking at redesigning the space to share a reception area and also a second egress at the back of the office space to allow a second way for the employee to get out of that office should the need arise.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The sheriff’s vehicle is an eight-person vehicle. It’s required to be that size and it transports court parties. Here in Yellowknife it would transport the court party to Behchoko, so it has to be of a certain size. The cost on a vehicle of that nature is somewhere in the area of $65,000. Thank you.

We continue to talk about the importance of the commercial fishery to the Northwest Territories economy. It is a shadow of its former self. The numbers are better this year and I will commit to the Member and Members of the House to get the most recent numbers to them. The Member cited between 30 and 40 percent increase in production. We’ve seen some new fishermen get out on the lake taking part in the fishery.

As I mentioned in my previous response, we can’t wait forever for the federal government. If they don’t make a move and support us on moving forward with the fish plant in Hay River...

The departmental occupational health and safety specialist has identified the current set-up of the rental office as a health and safety risk for the employee staffed in that location. At times the clientele the staff is dealing with can be frustrated and very agitated with their landlords and, therefore, can express aggressive behaviour, putting the staff at risk. Proper physical security measures need to be put in place to ensure the health and safety of that staff. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we do have witnesses. Thank you.