Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the illicit drug trade, it is all about money, power, and control for those higher on the food chain, and all about access to drugs and the high it provides for those addicted. Life is unimportant to those in the drug trade, as many of us have attended numerous funerals and services for friends and family murdered because of it. Families are being torn apart with little or no consequence for those responsible. It is time for this government to provide our frontline enforcement and health workers with the tools needed to effectively deal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following documents: one, Unlawful Property Forfeiture Act, Nunavut; two, Civil Forfeiture Act, Bill No. 82, Yukon; three, Civil Forfeiture Act, SBC 2005, British Columbia; and four, Civil Forfeiture Act, Chapter C15.2, Alberta. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I'm trying to do is to find tools for the RCMP and enforcement to, you know, combat drug trade in the Northwest Territories. So I'd ask the Minister to confirm if the department has looked at current civil legislation to see if it can be used to address some of the issues caused by the drug trade. And I'm talking about, for example, the Fire Prevention Act, the Residential Tenancies Act, can we use them as it stands now or can we tweak them so that we can make it so that the RCMP might be able to use it in fighting the drug trade? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reality in the Northwest Territories right now is that the drug trade is expanding. You know, we see, you know, the addictions growing. We see deaths increasing. We see families torn apart. And it's important that we do something before we can't handle it.

So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Justice tell me what happens when the RCMP seize large amounts of money, or assets, suspected to come from illegal activities; are these seizures made under criminal or civil legislation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it sounds like maybe we should be enacting this piece of legislation. It didn't happen in the 15th Assembly, but the difference now is that we have a lot of people dying because of drugs.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit his department to undertake and complete a jurisdictional scan and review of the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act used in other jurisdictions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, later today I'll table a document, being a bill that was prepared in the 15th Legislative Assembly but not enacted. Mr. Speaker, that bill is the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act. With some minor revisions, the enactment of this draft bill, we could provide enforcement with the tool to help addressing the manufacturing and sale of illicit drugs. The legislation's already present and working in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon.

So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Justice confirm...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Hay River residents, and NWT residents, do not want to attend more funerals. What we want is the enforcement tools to hit those who are manufacturing and selling out of public housing units, out of private housing, and out of commercial properties. I know the Minister has already alluded to this next question but, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to review this draft SCAN bill and consider it for the NWT before the end of this Assembly? We have to do something and doing nothing just isn't acceptable. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that answer. I think it's important that we look at expanding the tools that we do have, and if that means going and looking at civil legislation then that's what we should be doing.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm why we'd want to look at civil legislation to deal with those drug houses? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last several years, illicit drugs have been become commonplace in many of our communities. It has taken lives through violence and overdoses and has become an evergrowing public safety concern.

Mr. Speaker, in our regional and small communities, we know who the suppliers and dealers are. We know where they are taking advantage of our most vulnerable population through buying or forcing their way into homes which are then used as a base of operation. Drugs may be manufactured, distributed, or sold from those very premises, some which are government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a copy of Bill 7, Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, from the sixth session of the 15th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.