Thank you, Madam Chair. Noted, and we look forward to working with the Member, with committee, with communities and with the RCMP to find solutions to these issues as we move forward.

Today I am presenting the main estimates for the Department of Justice for fiscal year 2013-2014.

The department’s main estimates propose an operations expenditure budget of $116.8 million. This represents an increase of 2.7 percent over the 2012-13 Main Estimates. There is just over two million additional dollars to ensure core programs and services have sufficient resources to operate, with the majority of these funds targeted at policing and collective bargaining increases. These main estimates also propose $837,000 to fund initiatives that will enhance and expand service delivery to the...

Madam Chair, the Aboriginal community constable like the one we have in Hay River, they are still RCMP members with a particular focus. We would have the same difficulty putting an Aboriginal community constable in that community without backup. There are requirements to have legal backup in case of a complicated situation or when dangerous situations arise.

We are open to creative solutions for the community. I think the meeting that is going to happen on April 9th can be productive. We and the RCMP are very interested in working with the community to find some real solutions. We as a...

Mr. Speaker, through their ability to motivate and serve as role models, many staff in the Department of Justice make a significant difference in the lives of people in the Northwest Territories.

In our 10-year strategic plan we made a commitment to our staff – and ultimately the public they serve – to build and maintain a strong foundation at the Department of Justice. The first step towards this goal is to create an effective human resources plan.

Our plan will build and support a northern workforce. To do this, we will make ongoing investments in our over 500 employees, many of whom work in...

Family violence continues to be an issue in the Northwest Territories. It’s recognized by the RCMP, it’s recognized by departments, it’s recognized by the health care system, and I think it’s recognized, clearly, by Members of this House. But it continues to be a challenge and is something that needs additional work. Alcohol abuse, I’ve talked to RCMP detachment commanders that talk to the commanding officer. They all say, not all, but a significant amount of crime that is happening in the small communities is alcohol related.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There are a number of different programs currently provided by the RCMP. There’s the Aboriginal Community Constable Program. In the Northwest Territories we have one person who has successfully completed that program. There’s an intake, I believe it just ended actually, for two more positions here in the Northwest Territories. We had a large number of candidates, which I think is fantastic. I’ve made statements in the House about that program, and I’ve encouraged Members to work with their communities to identify people. I know that we’ve got lots of candidates and we...

The Member is right; that is pretty much exactly what we’re going for, which is why we’ve engaged a steering committee that does have Aboriginal government representation as well as NGO engagement. We have been, and I have personally been, sending letters to the different Aboriginal governments and organizations of the Northwest Territories seeking additional input. We had Aboriginal governments involved in the working groups as well. I will continue to do that. We know that is critical. We know we have to engage all of our partners.

With respect to industry, our steering committee does have a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; a draft came out in December. It was a rough draft and we’ve taken it out for public consultation and discussion, and we’re seeking feedback and input on that. Much of that has now come in.

On behalf of the steering committee, we’ve got a team of dedicated staff who are actually finalizing a draft. We will have the final product out on March 31st. We will have a draft done before that which, hopefully, we’ll have an opportunity to share and discuss with committee and other stakeholders.

The government will have a continued involvement in the implementation of any action items that come out of the foundation. I won’t commit to a secretariat, but I will commit that the government will maintain being actively engaged. We will work with our partners as we move forward and we’ll continue to monitor the results. Without seeing the final plan, it’s a little hard to say exactly how that’s done. We expect some recommendations on how to monitor it and move forward with it to actually come from the steering committee as part of the action plan.

The first step is to get the foundation document done, which will be March 31st. That will be available for public distribution at that point. The second step is with the steering committee that’s been established that includes members from the Anti-Poverty Coalition as well as Aboriginal governments and other organizations. We’re going to continue to work with them and our working group to actually pull together a response to the framework which will be our action plan which will identify what things the government and other groups need to do to fight and combat poverty here in the Northwest...