R.J. Simpson

Yes. Thank you.

Thank you. To operate a correctional facility, there are a number of different positions that are required. And so the majority are correctional officers. There are case managers. There are supervisors. There are and similar positions. Thank you.

Thank you. There are 13 this year. That includes the four under the First Nation and Inuit Policing Program, and those are located in Fort Resolution, K'atlodeeche that will be based in Hay River, Tuktoyaktuk and Whati. The crime reduction unit will be based in Yellowknife, but it is a territorial asset, and it's employed territorially. That would include six, seven staff. Six RCMP. And then we have an increase in the emergency response team. I believe that's two fulltime positions in Yellowknife. And then we have an increase of one position in Fort Providence detachment. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, that is correct. That position has not had a case load and so it hasn't been representing children in court. Those duties are done by the panel lawyers. So the position over the last number of years has been working on updates to policy manuals, assigning the files to the different panel lawyers, working on migrating data into the legal aid information network, and similar tasks. Thank you.

Thank you. We do not have a formal plan. We recognize there is a facility in the community, that the community is taking a hit with the reduction, and we wanted to ensure that we were proactive in raising the possibility of this facility being repurposed. The leadership in the community has been receptive, and I would say that leadership in every single region in the territory has been more than receptive about wanting wellness centres. We've had those requests across the territory. And if that's not what the community wants, then we can work on something else that the community might want...

Thank you. And I don't want to speak too much about other departments. I don't want to get anything wrong before they appear in front of committee. But one of the main initiatives that I can speak to, because it is in one of my departments, is integrated service delivery. And that is one of the approaches that I hope will begin to address some of these issues. Really, at the end of day, that is the way to stop people from falling through the cracks and deliver the services they need across government. Thank you.

Thank you. And as the deputy minister stated earlier, there is a working group looking at the reason, examining the reasons behind the decline. Some of the obvious reasons are changes to the Criminal Code as well as case law handed down from the Supreme Court related to things like bail. And the majority of inmates has, I believe, historically been remanded, and when the Supreme Court and the Criminal Code says no more remanding of individuals except in expectational circumstances, that has a huge impact. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's what this reduction is reflective of, the fact that we no longer need all of that capacity in the system. The South Mackenzie Correctional Facility or correctional centre is actually at a lower capacity, but it is something unique that we do not want to get rid of at this point given that it is an initiative that is in line with our goal of addressing the effects of trauma. The South Mackenzie Correctional Centre is piloting a therapeutic model where inmates are actually residents, not inmates, and we attempt to help them gain the tools to stop them from...

Thank you. In terms of the level of or the number of police and the level of crime, we're trying to catch up to the level of crime. And so it is not that more police aren't helping the situation, but the crime rate is rising. We heard yesterday for an hour about the impact drugs are having on communities. I don't need to speak any further to that. That was discussed.

In terms of the increases to the RCMP budget, the way this works is that the RCMP, they look at their operations across the territory, they identify areas where they're feeling pressure, and we've seen some communities with spikes...

Thank you. So my understanding that, according to the staff retention policy, it would be three months after the budget was passed that the notice would be given. And the staff have been informed. So they're not learning about this on the floor of the House. Thank you.