R.J. Simpson

Thank you. What is being reduced is an administrative position essentially, the position that would assign files to panel lawyers when required to do so as well as perform other duties. What remains is a budget for, I believe, seven panel lawyers experienced in dealing with children's law and family law matters. Thank you.

Thank you for that. And so we have the other facilities in the territory. So there's still a women's correctional facility in Fort Smith. There's South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River. And there is North Slave Correctional Centre in Yellowknife. And there are vacancies in those units. And the impacted employees, the affected employees, will have first dibs essentially on those jobs. And we have paused hiring until after this budget to ensure that those positions remain open for those individuals. As well, I will note that correctional officers are skilled workers. They go through...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we have a number of ways that we are doing that. We can go back to decades and look at the restorative justice approach that the NWT really embarked on before many jurisdictions in Canada. I know the RCMP do their best to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system toward the restorative justice system. That system is highly dependent on community involvement. Those boards are made up of volunteers from the community who will work with offenders to figure out ways to help rehabilitate them without putting them into the criminal justice system. And so there's...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree with all those comments by the Member, and the solution will be driven by the community. Thank you.

I'd like to hand it to Mr. Bancroft. Thank you

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I will say that this is not an easy -- this was not an easy decision. This has weighed heavily and continues to weigh heavily on me and my Cabinet colleagues. This is not something anyone wants to do. There are 15 full-time positions that are being affected. There are 17 relief positions as well. We have committed to do everything we can to ensure that there are opportunities for these individuals in other GNWT positions. There have been -- Cabinet is making efforts to determine how we can utilize the existing facility in a different capacity. The MLA for Thebacha, as...

Thank you. So the situation in the Northwest Territories is different from the rest of Canada, and the way that the First Nation and Inuit Policing Program works up here is essentially integrated in many ways into the regular force, and so they report to the same commanding officers. And our contract policing services, they actually operate in a sort of community policing model, which is what the First Nation and Inuit Policing Program is intended to do. And so it's actually -- the report is not necessarily speaking about the situation in the Northwest Territories. It's more about the other...

Yes. Thank you.

Thank you. I believe the review was happening regardless. We have our regular reviews. Thank you.

Thank you. With me, I have Charlene Doolittle, deputy minister of the Department of Justice. And James Bancroft, director of corporate services. Thank you.