Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask a question at this point. It comes from comments that were made earlier with regards to a planning study and what happens after a planning study is completed.

I look at this year’s budget and it indicates two planning studies, one for Colville Lake School and one for Trout Lake school. I am not quite sure if I understood correctly, but as I listened to the response earlier, I thought I heard them say that if in 2014-15 a planning study is completed for, say, the Colville Lake School, that there would not be construction money for at least another...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to reiterate some of the comments that I made in some of my general comments to the budget as a whole. Like Mr. Bromley, I’m extremely disappointed in the amount of money that we are putting into education in this capital budget.

I want to focus a bit on some of the projects that are not there. I mentioned those in my general comments to the budget as well. In June of this year, committee received a document which outlined the 20-year needs assessment from the Department of ECE. I appreciate that that document hadn’t gone to FMB and the capital budget had not...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We would like to continue consideration of Tabled Document 107-17(4) and continue with general comments.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that you can’t commit dollars, but it’s gratifying to hear that we are on the same page and that you’re willing to support this group if we can get it going.

One of the things that I mentioned in my statement is that there will be results from the community meeting that was held. I’d like to know from the Minister if he can give us any kind of an indication of when the working group might be reporting.

Thanks to the Minister for his response. I’m really pleased to hear that Justice is behind this.

My next question I was going to ask about is a commitment and I think the Minister has already basically said the department is willing.

I guess I would like to know whether or not the Minister will take the initiative to contact the city, because I think this is something which the city certainly has to be very much involved in.

So will the Minister take the initiative, or the RCMP, will he encourage them to take the initiative to contact the city to see what we can do to get this thing rolling...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use my statement today to talk about my community and recent happenings which have raised concerns in Yellowknife about residents’ safety in this community.

Since the spring, Yellowknife has experienced what some consider to be a rash of incidents affecting residents’ well-being. Many were identified as sexual assaults, and they’ve resulted in concern among Yellowknife constituents and, yes, fear; fear of being assaulted or accosted, fear that their homes are no longer safe, fear that we are not safe within our community, in our downtown, on our trails and in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, October 21, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the Government of the Northwest Territories accept the measures and suggestions contained in the Report of Environmental Assessment and recommended by the Review Board pursuant to s. 130(1)(b)(i) of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act;

And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories urge its federal counterparts to do the same, to ensure the timely and cooperative remediation of the Giant Mine. Thank you...

Thanks again to the Minister. He leads me right into my next question. I recognize that volunteers are something which are absolutely necessary to this program. It’s not going to happen if we don’t get the volunteers from the community who are willing to be the eyes and ears and to actually go out and do the patrols.

I’d like to know from the Minister what kind of supports the city or a Citizens On Patrol group, whether it’s attached to the city or not, what kind of support can this group expect from the Department of Justice. I’m talking about PYs – person years – money, actual dollars, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Justice. I talked in my Member’s statement about my community, and my community looking for ways to tackle the issues of safety that have come to the fore in the last several months.

Some years ago there was a dedicated group of residents, in conjunction with the RCMP, who began a citizen's watch type program. It was a program called Citizens On Patrol, or COPs. It was a really effective program for a number of years. But as with many programs, when the people who start the program either tire of it or move away, then...