Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, some of the problems with response times relate to dispatching being done out of Yellowknife headquarters. This leads directly to my next question. What are the hours of operation in the local detachment in the Tlicho region?

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned, too, that the police will sometimes not respond to a call because an actual crime has not been committed. It seems to be that that attitude is totally contradictory to the basic concept of community policing. Part of the responsibility of the RCMP is to provide a proactive presence in the communities, not just reacting to...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to express my personal thanks to Sarah Coey-Simpson who is here as a Page this week. She is going home tomorrow, so I would like to say thank you. Mahsi.

---Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today I spoke about the problems the residents of Tlicho had with accessing service from the RCMP. Can the Minister of Justice inform the Assembly whether there's a standard service level that a community of a particular size can expect to receive? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to commend the Justice department. However, Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned with the delivery of RCMP services to the Tlicho communities. There are the same concerns that are echoed in other small communities.

Tlicho residents have told me that on average the police response is 48 minutes. That is quite outrageous in the Tlicho region.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the department is working closely with the Department of Transportation. Can the Minister also commit on working with the local Behchoko community government to deal with the bison issue? Will there be a harvesting of them or putting florescent tags on them so they can be reflective; also, initiating rubber bullets for discouraging them from going onto the highway, Mr. Speaker? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, each and every year there are travellers encountering more and more problems with bison on Highway No. 3. Motorists are continually being warned to pay close attention against collision with these animals. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is it’s getting worse. As winter is fast approaching, darkness falls a lot earlier. Bison on the highway jeopardize safety of motorists and cause serious injuries or carnage of these animals.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine wrote off his vehicle because he ran into a full-grown buffalo on...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me the timeline on the development of a strategy to deal with the bison on Highway No. 3, especially with respect to harvesting from the community’s perspective? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke of the dangers that the bison are posing for motorists on Highway No. 3. I strongly advocate for the need for a strategy to deal with this public safety issue. Public safety is a huge issue. Can the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources inform the Assembly whether his department has a strategy in place to deal with the bison on Highway No. 3? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Today, first of all, we have one Page who’s from Whati. That’s Page Sarah Coey-Simpson from Whati. She’s going to be working here until Friday. The girl is attending Whati school and is in Grade 8. How she was selected is the principal, Bill Hurley, selected her as a Page. She was there as a role model for the students in that school, which is why she was selected. I wanted to thank her parents on her behalf.

Also, I was talking about the celebration in Behchoko in the Tlicho Nation. We have leadership from the Tlicho Government, and I would like to introduce...

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In the short time that I have been a Member of this Assembly -- it has been two or three months -- there have been significant activities happening in the community.

This summer, on June 13th, there was an election for the Tlicho chiefs. The chiefs that have been elected -- some of them are here -- are Chief Leon Lafferty from Behchoko/Rae, Chief Charlie Jim Nitsiza from Whati, Chief Henry Gon from Gameti and also Chief Charlie Football from Wekweeti/Snare Lake. These are the four chiefs that have been elected.

On August 4th, we had a big celebration in Rae...