Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2019-2020, be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and sets out limits on supplementary amounts that may be borrowed by the Commissioner on behalf of the government and authorizes the making of disbursements to pay the principle of supplementary amounts borrowed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 from April 1 to September 30, 2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At present, there have not been any concerns raised to the Department of Justice. I have had the opportunity to meet with G Division's headquarters, as well as to attend several of the detachments already throughout the Northwest Territories, and I have not been privy to any concerns. Obviously, our office remains very alive and very welcoming. If there have been other concerns raised, I would certainly want to hear about that.

As I have said, though, at present, what I have been told is that, although the officers are becoming trained in drug recognition and increasing and improving their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At present, there certainly have been efforts made currently to expand the use of drug recognition, both in terms of the field sobriety testing and in terms of devices. At present, I can say that, as of the current year, there actually have not yet been any drug-impaired investigations that yielded results of being, in fact, drug-impaired. All of the impaired driving continues to be alcohol impairment here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to announce that female inmates have moved into the new women's unit at the Fort Smith Correctional Complex. I had the pleasure of touring the new unit last week. I was impressed by the care and attention that has gone into designing a facility that is tailored to meeting the needs of female inmates in our care and specifically in the Northwest Territories.

The new unit, which has beds for 23 women, is the first correctional facility designed from the outset to meet the needs of women in the Northwest Territories. It offers dedicated areas where women...

Yes, it does.

I do, Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar and Mr. Jamie Koe.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I realize this is frustrating, but I would like to suggest to the Member that this is an opportunity for us to get it right and that, by going through this process as an Assembly right now, this is an opportunity to look at the fiscal policy that we do develop going forward and ensure that we are not back in this situation. In some ways, I'd say, this can be an opportunity for all of us.

As far as the immediate situation as to what would happen should the short-term borrowing limit not be increased, it certainly does create a situation where we are not being fiscally...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Similar to taxes, it is an ongoing obligation to pay. We would be certainly subject to changes in year-over-year mill rates as would any other property assessment. Essentially, it is a tax owing and will be due year over year, subject to a new assessment.

Yes, Madam Chair.