Louis Sebert

Yes. It is important, of course, that the RCMP, to a large extent, reflect the population with whom they are dealing. I do believe that they hope to recruit more Aboriginal officers. Certainly, that would be our wish. I can express that, certainly, to the commanding officer. I believe they do wish to do that. As I say, it is important that, in a population that is roughly 50 percent Aboriginal, a large number of the police officers are Aboriginal themselves. Yes, the police do understand this concern, as do we. Thank you.

It is a revenue increase, but we are constantly under pressure for new programs for various worthy things. The land transfer tax, as Members may recall, would have been a much more radical change than this is. These are fairly modest increases in my mind. They will be borne by those who are buying houses or putting on mortgages, but I don't regard this as a particularly large increase. It is certainly far less than was contemplated under the land transfer tax, which was not popular.

I thought, since the rates had not been changed in many years, that a change was worthwhile. As I say, for your...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I don't have that figure in front of me, but I can certainly obtain it and provide it to committee.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee that is appointed recommends disbursements from the fund to support community-based projects and activities. I understand that there is an annual report tabled. It is strange, I agree, to see a surplus, but I do see a list of worthy projects that they have proceeded with. Yes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, the following schedule is anticipated: construction completion by June 2019; building occupancy by August 2019; and the building will be in service in October of 2019.

That is the schedule. The two-month time period is required to ensure that the systems are operating properly and to orient staff to new procedures. Following completion of staff training and building commissioning, the facility will be ready for full occupancy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Thank you. Certainly, the public engagement that we went through in the fall highlighted a number of concerns for residents about enforcement and the prevention of drug-impaired driving, and, of course, police use their skills every day. There are a number of tools that they can use to detect imperilled driving, including the standardized field sobriety testing (SFST) and drug recognition expert (DRE) evaluations. So there has been training, and I understand that a fair number of officers are SFST certified, including seven in Yellowknife, three in Behchoko, one in Hay River, one in Fort...

Yes. This is an increase in fees. It is under the Land Titles Act and the PPSA, Personal Property Security Regulations. Anyway, Members may recall there had been some discussion in the past about a land transfer tax. Anyway, what we have done is looked at, fairly, in my view, minor increases in the area of land transfers. That is where the majority of this money is going to come from, and mortgage registrations. Our estimate is that there will be increases in funds with the new fee structure. Again, land transfers average over the last three years have been $483,000. We are talking about the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. Well, we do want to reduce these costs. One of the ways is by effective use and scheduling of relief corrections officers. We do realize that this is an issue. One of the things that may alleviate the problem is that a Corrections Northern Recruitment Training Program is currently under way in Yellowknife for completion in March 2019. This will provide trained individuals who can apply for employment in the corrections service. I would anticipate or hope, maybe more hope than anticipation, that this would reduce the overtime costs. As I say, in looking at the numbers...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that this is managed by the Victims Assistance Committee and that they determine the allocation of funds. Thank you.

Yes.