Louis Sebert

It depends, to some degree, on the scope of the project. There could be up to 200 megawatts from the Taltson system, which would supply about 20 per cent of the needs of Saskatchewan. I understand that the likely cost of the project would probably be over $500 million. Perhaps between that and a billion dollars.

I can advise that policing priorities and action plans are living documents, so that if priorities or concerns change, they can certainly be changed. Also, I know that in Fort Providence there is an active Community Justice Committee Coordinator who runs weekly crime prevention initiatives at the youth centre. They also accept referrals from the RCMP and the Crown to divert youth from the formal justice systems. There is a series of responses to this issue that the police are undertaking, and I understand that there are always problems in moving forward with these, but I understand that the...

The RCMP have gone out to all of the communities in the Northwest Territories and in developing the action plans, they look at the specific needs of the communities. I understand they have done this in every community, including Fort Providence.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize April Davies, manager of Sutherland House in Fort Smith.

I understand that all of the 33 communities that do have detachments do have action plans. I believe the RCMP is working on those communities that they do not have a detachment in to also have a form of action plan. But I certainly say that every community in which there is a detachment has entered into an action plan with the RCMP, including Fort Providence.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Community safety and enforcement is a priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. In an effort to provide the best policing that we can, all the communities in the NWT have had an opportunity this year to develop policing priorities and action plans with the RCMP. The policing and action plans are developed in partnership with the RCMP and community residents, and are based on the specific needs of each community. The RCMP has developed a policing priorities and action plan with Fort Providence that dealt with or covered three issues that the community...

Certainly, this is a new department and I'm a new Minister in it; however, I am consulting with my colleagues and we are looking at options for a more open and transparent government. In fact, the very discussions that we've had over the last week or two involving the mandate and other matters are an example of how we are moving forward with more open and transparent government. Once I receive my mandate letter from the Premier, I'll be able to give more detail about how we will be proceeding in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I believe there are programs at the North Slave Correctional Centre that do have an Aboriginal component. The department currently offers a six-week national substance abuse program to federal and territorial inmates at the North Slave Correctional Centre, and I believe this has a wellness component involving programs for Aboriginal inmates, and hopefully, through programs such as this we can reduce the number of Aboriginal inmates, which is currently approximately 87 per cent of the population.

Mr. Speaker, the Member raised certain issues in his speech, and certainly, the department is aware of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons in the corrections system. We are trying to address this by a series of programs. The department continues to improve the link between programs delivered to inmates in custody and community-based programs involving probation services, community justice and other departments and agencies such as Health and Social Services. We are also attempting to look at the underlying root causes and hopefully reduce the numbers referred to by the Member opposite...

Yes, Mr. Chair, I move that Committee Motion 13-18(2) be amended by deleting the words "expand and." Thank you, Mr. Chair.