Caroline Wawzonek

Yes. Again, I don't know that the Department of Justice has right now, on track, that specific information, and it may well be that it's held by the RCMP. However, again, what I can do is at least ensure that that question is transmitted to the RCMP directly and see that they can follow up.

As I mentioned, the RCMP does have regular updates they provide to communities, and it's a good opportunity to ensure that, when they are doing that, that they are providing updates to the extent that they have the information about Liquor Act violations, Liquor Act prohibitions, since that certainly has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is always an ongoing dialogue between the Department of Justice and the RCMP, and this dialogue has been particularly keen in the last couple of months. There has been a lot of attention paid to the situation of bootlegging and illicit drug activity across borders. That dialogue continues. Mr. Speaker, I know that, later this session, I expect to be speaking to the police and priorities and would continue to encourage every community to develop their own community police priorities which can also then be a direct link into the activities of the RCMP in their...

I have already been in touch with my colleague from ECE. Obviously, this does, as the Member has already identified, fall within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, my colleague was just on his feet, being asked if he was going to start a pilot for universal basic income. Some choices have to be made sometimes. We certainly can't have every single program that moves forward under COVID move forward forever. There will not be sufficient money to do that.

That said, Mr. Speaker, two things: the minimum wage committee is already underway for this year for this two...

Yes, I was able to marshal a bit of information here for the Member. As of May 26, that is, as of yesterday, there have been 31 business applications to the wage top-up. The application has to come through the employer in order to top up the employee. Twenty-eight have already been processed, but three, we requested additional information. In total, this will benefit 242 employees, at least for the month of April. We are processing them retroactively. For April, that would be $65,000 going out into the hands of employees in the Northwest Territories.

At this point, processing takes...

Mr. Speaker, I certainly am pleased to be able to say that the Tlicho region will be getting two further officers under the First Nations policing program, so, to the extent that there is a need for greater enforcement by the RCMP, with more manpower in the Tlicho region, that is at least one piece of good news I can give to the Member at this point.

Beyond that, Mr. Speaker, I can also say I have now had several hours of conversation with some of the Indigenous leaders, including some of the chiefs from the Tlicho region, and certainly intend to continue to do so as or when necessary...

We don't necessarily keep detailed track at the Department of Justice about all of the actions of the RCMP. I can certainly commit, for one, to just follow up with the RCMP and determine exactly what statistics they might maintain so that we can ensure that they are provided. Certainly, they do provide reports to every community on a regular basis, but on this specific discussion, we will follow up with them. I can indicate, Mr. Speaker, that between May 19th and 25th, Behchoko RCMP did make five seizures of alcohol within the prohibition boundaries.

When the Legislative Assembly shut down in March due to the COVID health state of emergency, the Government of the Northwest Territories was well into its annual budgeting process. As we continue that discussion, we are also moving forward to other financial matters to be discussed during this sitting of the Legislative Assembly.

The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic do not change the Government’s need to continue providing programs and services. At the same time, we have been responding to the immediate needs of the Northwest Territories economy, communities, businesses, and...

I need to just take 10 seconds and actually go back to the genesis of the program, which was that, when Canada, the federal government, ruled out this CERB program for individuals who were negatively impacted, lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19, and they set a floor that would provide money to everyone, $2,000 into the pockets of people who had been negatively impacted, there very quickly arose, particularly in southern Canada, the fact that a lot of front-line workers were now incentivized to leave what might have been considered, at least perceptually, a higher risk profession, whether...

We have three facilities, four if you include the youth facility, separate from the NSCC, and I would certainly commit to taking a look at the mental health resources available specific to corrections workers across all of those facilities. Thank you.

I have no doubt that there is some burn-out. The correctional facilities across Canada right now, many of them have actually been struck quite significantly by COVID-19. We have been fortunate in the Northwest Territories to not be in that situation, but it is not for lack of tremendous effort put in by the correctional facility staff to undertake their work in a very difficult environment. We are aware that they always work in a challenging environment, and they are working in a particularly challenging environment right now with COVID-19. There are additional requirements for hygiene and...