Jackson Lafferty

We at the Department of Justice, and also Corrections, recognize the importance of having a communication dialogue, whether it be between the inmates and their MLAs or the parents and so forth. Those were the issues that were brought forward by a Member. They want to have contact with their inmates if there are issues, so certainly we are allowing that to happen now.

We are asking all 19 Members, if there are inmates from their ridings wishing to make a call to them, that they give us their blessing, and certainly that will be open. There may be some Members who may not want the inmates to be...

To date we have 4,683 individuals that have been certified through apprenticeship programs. We should be proud of that here in the Northwest Territories. We continue to deliver those effective programs. Camp cook or the cook apprentices could be one of them. We need more information from Chef Pierre and his resource people to provide the accreditation so we can move forward. Mahsi.

Since June of this past summer my department has been working closely with Chef Pierre. They also toured the facility. They did talk about the proposal coming forward from Chef Pierre and also asked questions on the accreditation program. That is supposed to be forthcoming.

At the same time, there is also great news from the Mine Training Society. There was a proposal submitted by Chef Pierre, in partnership with the Native Women’s Association, to deliver a camp cook program. That is one of partnerships that has always been successful in the past working with the Mine Training Society. It is an...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today we honour the memory of one of our own RCMP officers. Constable Chris Worden lost his life one year ago today while responding to a call in Hay River. Later today the RCMP will be adding his name to the cenotaph outside G Division headquarters in Yellowknife.

On behalf of our government I extend my condolences to the Worden family and to the brave officers who serve our communities so faithfully. This incident is a tragic reminder that serious crimes do happen here. All too often they are related to illegal drug trafficking and use.

In the past few months we have seen...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. To my left is Mike Reddy. He is a senior policy analyst with the Department of Justice. To my right is Mark Aitken, director of the legislation division. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to appear before the committee today to review Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act.

I would like to start by thanking members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their review and comments on the bill. The Law Society of the Northwest Territories is the organization that regulates the legal profession in the Northwest Territories. Its functions include the investigation of complaints against its members and the discipline of its members.

The bill before you today was developed at the request of the Law Society to update the discipline...

Mr. Speaker, those are the issues at hand. In order to amend those policies we currently have in place, the Members have raised those issues. We do allow a telephone privilege for inmates to call their MLAs. There are phone numbers listed within Corrections so they can call their MLAs. We do have that information for those inmates at Corrections. Certainly, if the Members want us to amend that policy, we’ll grant the wish of the committee members. That has been in the works since the last Assembly, but now we’re in a new Assembly, and we can take on the task. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular issue was raised at the 15th Assembly. The request came from a Member at that time who didn’t want inmates to be calling him. It was at the request of the Member that the government initiated a policy pertaining to that event.

At the current time I did hear complaints from Regular Members, new Members of the 16th Assembly, so we followed through with that. I did write a letter to each Member highlighting if they’re open to their riding inmates calling them. It was an option I threw out to them. Certainly, we’re listening to the Members. They gave us concerns...

I thought I just announced a huge initiative here on the training program.

I think this is a great start for us as a department, the GNWT, the Mine Training Society and also the partnership with the NWT Native Women’s Association. It’s a true partnership, and it will move forward. Again, it’s an 18 week program.

With this accreditation program we’re still waiting for Chef Pierre to get back to my department and discuss further the next level, because this is one area that we’re focusing on as a department. The proposal has been submitted to the Mine Training Society, and they are moving forward...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we did tour the facility the Member is referring to as having potential for a cooking program. It is one of those programs that is often needed throughout the North and also throughout Canada.

The Member made a statement about the lack of support from the government. Mr. Speaker, we do support all kinds of training programs, apprentices and at the professional level as well. We’re very proud of that. Also, since we met with Chef Pierre, there has been some ongoing discussion within my department, and my department has met with the chef as well. Mahsi.