Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, we had a respected elder that was part of the Stanton Indigenous elders’ advisory committee approach me about concerns in Wrigley with the RCMP. My question is to my favourite Minister, who is walking out the door, but…
---Laughter
I'm just messing with you.
This is a question for the Minister of Justice. Can the Minister of Justice please provide… Does the RCMP have a schedule for going into the community of Wrigley, and is it posted? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not entirely sure I understood the question. I know that the RCMP, apart from the places where they have detachments, do patrols into all of the communities where there are no detachments. I don't know if they'd be posted in advance. That would kind of defeat the purpose, I think, of having that sort of activity. I'm not being facetious; I am trying to answer the question. I'm not entirely sure that I entirely understood the question, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I'm not trying to catch you, either, because right now it's not posted, which I understand, but they come in on a regular basis at the regular time. Can the Minister work with the RCMP to change up the schedule, including going in weekends and maybe even staying overnight, so that the people that are abusing the system in Wrigley can be caught or be addressed, so that the regular people of the residence will feel safe?
Probably one of the points of having these patrols is to make them irregular so that those that perhaps would want to know when the police are coming won't know when the police are coming. I do understand, however, that there is a necessity of the police to go on regular patrols, which I understand they do. Whether those patrols are on a scheduled basis or not is really up to the RCMP. Although we do fund the RCMP to the tune of, I think, $45 million a year, 70 per cent of their budget, I do not have much control, or any control, and perhaps I shouldn't, over their day-to-day operations. I can, however, bring the Member's concern to the RCMP, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I understand that, you know, we don't control it and we pay for part of their salary and that. The big concern in the communities is that the people that are breaking the laws are getting away with things and elders are feeling threatened or concerned about the well-being of the community. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister talk to the RCMP as well about checking vehicle registration, people's insurance, and their drivers' licences in these communities when they're there?
The Member does bring up legitimate concerns. We're not in a position, of course, to have detachments in every single community. Most of the communities do have detachments; those that don't are subject to regular patrols by the RCMP. I can bring the concerns of the Member, again, to the RCMP. I expect, when they go to the communities, they do check on the items that were mentioned in the question, so I will bring these concerns to the RCMP. I think they would be largely aware of them in any case, but I can't really direct them to change their policy. That's really up to them.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the Minister for his answer. Again, it is a concern; know where the detachment is; it's in Fort Simpson. The two people, two RCMP members, that are supposed to represent Wrigley, live in Fort Simpson. I understand where they are. I know who these individuals are, and they do a great job. Don't get me wrong; they're doing a great job. However, there are concerns within the communities that the service is not being provided. Can the Minister work with me to get the detachment to work with some of the elders in the community so they can hear the concerns and work out a plan that would be beneficial for the safety of the community and so the issues that they are bringing to my attention can be resolved? Thank you.
As I said previously, I have very little control over the day-to-day operations of the RCMP. I can, however, undertake to bring these concerns that have been mentioned in the Member's questions to the RCMP. Again, all of the communities in the Northwest Territories do have police protection. Not all of the protection is provided by an on-site detachment. In a review of this matter and looking at the financials, we were given to understand that, approximately, the cost of establishing new detachments would be $11 million, an unacceptably high cost, so the concerns are legitimate. I will bring them to the RCMP. I imagine, to a large extent, they are already aware of these concerns, because they have been expressed previously, but I will repeat them to the RCMP.
