Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice on the lack of RCMP officers in the 10 communities. There is a list I have of all the small communities in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister, in his discussions with the federal Minister on other issues, did this issue come up and how can we rectify or look at some of our small communities, such as Colville Lake, to see if there’s some type of law enforcement that can be put into Colville Lake to ensure the safety of the people is foremost and that we take this issue very seriously.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was in Ottawa meeting the Minister of Justice, not the Minister responsible for the RCMP. I didn’t have that discussion with the Minister of Justice. I was talking more about Bill C-10.
We recognize that community safety and enforcement is a priority, and the Member and I have had a number of conversations and I think we’re of like minds. We want to find some way to help the small communities.
There are 10 communities that do not have policing. Of those, two have money for policing but we don’t have any infrastructure in the communities so we’re not able to permanently locate RCMP in those communities. That is some work that we have to continue on.
With respect to communities like Colville, the RCMP is looking at some alternatives to help, such as creating additional detachments. We don’t know if that’s a possibility but it’s something that we’re always looking at. Increasing relief unit capacity. Increasing the number and length of patrols to the community so that we have people in the communities more often. Adding RCMP community officers who would act as a liaison between the RCMP and the community. These are things that we’re looking at, but most importantly – and following up on conversations I’ve had with my colleague – we need to get into some of these communities and talk to the people in the communities about what they think is going to work best for them and see if we can come up with some community solutions. I’m looking forward to doing that with the Member after Christmas sometime. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the House and inform the people in Colville Lake when there’s an issue in our communities without an RCMP member? For example, if there’s an issue in Colville Lake, is there a protocol that the members in Colville Lake can take to establish that, yes, this issue will be taken very seriously and they will see a member in that community as soon as possible? Because it makes it very difficult for the people to know if the issue is taken seriously or not by the local detachment.
I assure the Member that all issues in all the communities are taken seriously. I don’t know of any specific protocol, but I’ll certainly talk to my department and if there is a specific protocol, I will be sharing that with the Member.
I would say that when issues occur in the communities, it’s critical that the people in the communities contact the detachments. If they don’t have one in their community, there’s usually one associated with them. For instance, in Colville Lake it’s Fort Good Hope. If issues do occur, we need to have people call that detachment so that we can begin the process of getting somebody into the communities in as short a period of time when there are emergencies or serious situations taking place. Thank you.
Would the Minister come to Colville Lake and work with the people of Colville Lake on a specific type or if there’s a protocol that we can use to help the people know that their issues, when the call gets into a detachment, that it’s taken seriously and some issues that can be resolved as quickly as possible so the members know that their community, their people will be safe?
As I indicated before, the Member and I have been having some conversations and I’ll be going to Colville Lake, hopefully in February, with the Member to talk to the residents of Colville and the residents of the Sahtu about their issues with respect to the Department of Justice, policing being obviously one of them. At that time hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to talk about how the community sees us helping them to solve some of these problems and we’ll be there with open ears. Thank you.
I look forward to the Minister and I going into Colville Lake to talk about specifically this issue here.
I want to ask the Minister, there are 10 communities without RCMP officers and that’s a crying shame in the Northwest Territories in this day and age. What can this government do to ensure that somewhere down the line there will be a police station or an office, officers in Colville Lake? These numbers are…(inaudible)... It’s crazy that we have 10 communities without RCMP officers. What can this government do to make sure that this issue here gets the attention and that it gets onto some list so that we know that these communities can have RCMP officers sometime in the future?
As I indicated earlier, community safety and enforcement is a priority. It’s something that we’re certainly interested in. I, as the Minister of Justice, will absolutely be working with my colleagues to see if we can come up with some alternative solutions to these problems so that the people in the communities can feel a sense of security and whatnot. I look forward, once again, to meeting with the Member in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has indicated that there is some initiative to look at what type of RCMP officers they could have without any communities that have RCMP members. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the creativity that he brings or his colleagues bring, to ensure that the people in Colville Lake know when they go to sleep at night there is someone there that they can call and respond as quick as possible. I want to ask the Minister what other ideas he can bring to Colville Lake to ensure the safety there.
I’ve outlined previously some of the issues or some of the ideas that the RCMP are bringing forward, but for me what I’d really like to do is actually get into the community and listen to the community as to what kind of ideas they would like to see or what ideas they’d like to bring forward, what solutions they would like to see, and I’m open to anything at this point. It depends on whether it will work or not, but really I want to talk to the community and get a sense of what they think some of their own solutions would be. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
