As I have tried to say here in the House, it's a three-party process. It's the federal government, us, and DFN. I understand that DFN and the federal government have agreed to this area right now. Again, I am not saying we do not agree with it, but it's about the process. The whole process needs to be addressed, and we need clear understanding of where we are going ahead of this. Again, this is a Cabinet issue, and we are trying to work with them. We have reached out to them in correspondence. The Premier has already met with the grand chief, and we are starting that process. What I will say is we will continue to work on this process to get it resolved. The timeframe, I cannot make a commitment on that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance tried to explain the grant in lieu. The grant in lieu is the same concept as taxes. Am I correct?
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Madam Speaker, yes. Thank you. It's comparable insofar as the government does not pay property taxes the same way a private resident or private industry would. It is a way of compensating municipalities for the use of those properties. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
One hundred and forty million dollars for the City of Yellowknife for the 35-year period for grants in lieu/taxes, is this not an extra expense?
I apologize. I am not sure I know what numbers this Member is referencing, so I am at a bit of a disadvantage on this particular point. Grants in lieu, there is a very careful policy, a detailed policy, that the government uses to establish what is owed to municipalities under the grants in lieu. It is a process that uses independent assessors to identify the proper amounts. It's something that is paid to all communities. It's paid to all communities, and it's budgeted for, and so there really should not be long-term surprises in the course of grants in lieu. It's an important aspect of maintaining our partnerships and our funding to communities when we are using the resources of those communities and using up the land that would otherwise be available for them to have own-source revenues.
Is the Finance Minister comfortable in defending a flawed agreement/contract with regard to the P3 of the Stanton hospital?
The Stanton Territorial Hospital is a world-class facility. It is going to provide an opportunity for residents of the Northwest Territories, all residents of the Northwest Territories, to access services that would have otherwise not been available to us. While we acknowledge that there have been some challenges in the early, very early, stages of the roll-out of this very large and complex building, I am confident that those services are going to be here and to provide for all residents of the Northwest Territories. The P3 process for the Stanton Territorial Hospital was subject to quite rigorous auditing and quite rigorous review, and I am confident that it will, in the course of time, provide the right services and the best possible services to the residents of the Northwest Territories and that the reviews will be ongoing over the years to ensure that fact.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Madam Speaker, the Minister of Finance stated that the P3 for Stanton project came in on budget. Do you as Finance Minister truly believe this is a correct statement?
The capital planning for the project was, as I understand, $350 million, and that is indeed in the end the capital cost for construction. Now, the contract is now valued at an additional $751 million over the course of time. Every five years, there can be some adjustments made, but those adjustments are made with the partners and with all partners involved. Again, not with any surprises. I believe a very detailed and lengthy public process was offered for a technical briefing to the committee. The public was invited. That was put onto Facebook; it was made very open and accessible to the members of all of the Northwest Territories to ask hours of questions to some of the lead individuals involved in terms of designing that contract, implementing the contract, and providing services at the hospital. I believe, in fact, that those several hours' worth of review and briefings are still available through a link through the Legislative Assembly website. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our job here is to be legislators and to debate policy, and I am consistently frustrated that I find myself getting into the implementation and the operations of our departments. Earlier today, I heard the Minister of Lands commit that the land within municipal boundaries, there is a working group in place; hopefully, within a year, we have a process document; and then after that, we may see the land transferred. Unfortunately, I have to ask questions of every Minister to ensure that this is happening, so my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs: is the Minister willing to enter into an MOU with the Department of Lands, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, the City of Yellowknife, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and the heart of that MOU is that the land within municipal boundaries will be transferred? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. This situation with a land transfer happening within a municipal boundary is a quite complex situation in that there are a lot of parties at the table that we would have to work with, going forward, and consult with. Right now, the department is not in favour of entering into an MOU, to be honest. There is a lot of consideration to be thought through, looking at the land transfer and the affected parties and what is going to be coming along with that transfer, and looking at that transfer and what is going to be available to the City of Yellowknife, to the YKDFN, and the affected parties that are there. Looking for a thorough assessment, I'd have to be working closely with my colleague for the Department of Lands, the Minister of Lands, and working with the City of Yellowknife and YKDFN. Those relationships have already been established, so going forward, we are speaking about this process. I'd really like to stress that the transfer is quite complex. It's not something that can easily be completed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I am well aware that there are complexities in the implementation of any policy, but there is clear policy direction from the legislative branch that this be done. It is as simple as the Minister providing a ministerial directive to their department to devolve the lands, and then the department figures out the logistics. In the meantime, we have the City of Yellowknife's plan being required to be approved by the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and any revisions, a process that is taking too long. Will the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs commit to removing the requirement of her approval while this process is ongoing?
My apologies to my colleague. I'm not in favour of removing our abilities, of myself as Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, that this is happening within the municipal boundary. We do have a lot of consultations to be completed within the timeframe. We also have to consider that the transfer that is happening, that all parties at the table are, I don't want to use the words "in agreement," but I really want to stress the word "consultation." We do have ongoing land claims that have not been settled within this area, as well. I would really like to be mindful that this is a very delicate process and that it does involve legalities. Looking at this process, we are working closely with the stakeholders and closely with my colleague, the Minister of Lands. I would just like to really stress that it is a very complicated situation, and it's not as easy as it could be done signing papers and the transfer is complete. We do have to really concentrate on a lot of the scenarios that do come with them. I don't want to identify them, because it is a very complex situation.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] I'd like to ask a question regarding the Department of Justice. Sometimes, we are thankful to the RCMP when people are busted for drugs and that drugs don't go into the community, so we know what they are facing regarding the RCMP. I'm going to ask her a question. [End of translation]
There were several drug busts over the last few months here in the Northwest Territories, and in our communities, as well. I would like to send kudos and congratulate and also be thankful to the RCMP "G" Division for stopping these illegal drugs from entering the North.
When the drug bust occurred in Hay River a couple of months back, there were only three names released to the public out of the nine who were actively involved. I would just like to know the process from the Department of Justice, working with the RCMP "G" Division. what is the process of releasing these assailants or criminals who were all involved in a drug bust so we can have this publicly released so people are aware that these are people who are heavily involved with drugs? I just want to know the process, Madam Speaker. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. When an individual is arrested and charged, it is within the decision-making of the RCMP whether or not to release the name. I can't take a role in terms of making a choice or directing their operations, although I am confident that, when appropriate, when there are no other factors of safety or other ongoing investigations, they do generally release those names by way of a media release quite promptly. When an individual is detained by the RCMP in the course of a program or in the course of another investigation, if they are detained but released without charge, that individual is just that; they are not charged. There can be any number of reasons why somebody might be arrested or detained at the same time as others. If the RCMP determine that they do not have the legal authority to hold them or charge them, then nor would it be appropriate for them to be releasing their name. I expect that that may be a source of frustration when it is not known as to whether or not there is a certain number of people who have been arrested and why they are not all being named, but it's, in fact, of course, because not all of them have been charged under the investigation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I understand that they may not have been charged, but they were involved. When the drug bust happened, there were nine of them. You know, when there was a person of interest from the RCMP in Alberta just recently, they released the names of two individuals. This is, I would say, similar. I would ask the Minister of Justice if she is willing to sit down with the RCMP "G" Division commanding officer and seek out if there is any way that we can provide those names to the general public. My constituents, I want to protect them, and with those kinds of names, we should be releasing those to the community so they are aware of the drug traffickers coming in from the South, or even from the North, bringing illegal drugs to our communities. We need to put a stop to that. Could the Minister meet with the RCMP "G" Division chief commanding officer simply to ask those questions, if it's possible?
We're fortunate that we have a very positive working relationship with the RCMP. We do meet quite regularly with the commander of the "G" Division, and so I would have no difficulty making a commitment to raise the concerns on behalf of the communities of Monfwi in terms of stemming any tide of drugs reaching those communities. I would also note for the Member that the Minister does have policing priorities that are put out every year, every spring, and indeed it's my intention this year to reach out, and have begun the process of reaching out, to communities to ensure that the policing priorities that I issue are reflective of the concerns of the communities. I will speak to the Member further to ensure that policing priorities take into consideration the concerns and the issues that are being raised from these communities.
A lot of our communities do not have a RCMP detachment, and even my region, there are two communities that do not have an RCMP detachment. I fear for the communities, so I am glad the Minister is willing to meet with the chief commanding officer. I am hoping it's sooner than later. Winter roads are open, and all-weather road construction through Whati is happening. As soon as the Minister meets with the chief commanding officer, I would ask the Minister if she could provide the latest update on their discussion on this particular very important matter in my region.
I will certainly be keeping the Member up to date as I have conversations with the RCMP. I also believe that the RCMP would be themselves happy to engage directly with some of the committees of this House and to have that relationship about their operations, which is not within my area of responsibility. As for community safety going forward, that is a concern to the Department of Justice. There are a lot of different tools that can be used to increase and enhance community safety and community participation in the justice system, and I will continue to work towards those goals over the course of the Assembly.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wish to table the following document "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 3-19(1), Tracking Post-Secondary Student Accomplishments." Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I will call the Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Norn.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020-2021.
Thank you, Mr. Norn. We will proceed with that item after a short break. Thank you.
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I will call the committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020-2021. Does the Minister of Justice have any opening remarks?
Yes, Mr. Chair, thank you. I am here to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Justice. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of just under $7.4 million or 5.8 percent over the 2019-2020 main estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the coming year.
Highlights of these proposed estimates include:
$465,000 to develop a gun and gang violence strategy for the Northwest Territories, including funding for targeted risk-based interventions within our communities. This was made possible through a multi-year federal funding agreement with Canada. In this instance, we were able to leverage an opportunity for federal funding to address the needs of the NWT for increased youth support while also supporting a federal initiative;
$827,000 in ongoing funding to continue the integrated case management program. This is an increase of $263,000 from the 2019-2020 pilot project funding, and that will provide stability to the program, based upon an evaluation of the program's staffing needs. The integrated case management approach ensures that residents with complex needs can better access GNWT services across the social-envelope, from housing to income support, while identifying barriers within government, in order to support system-wide changes to how government provides services. We have received positive preliminary results from a third-party program evaluation about the impact this service approach has on the residents it serves, and I am looking forward to seeing how those lessons learned can contribute to shaping GNWT service delivery as a whole;
$5.6 million in forced growth, primarily relating to collective bargaining increases and increases to the RCMP Territorial Police Service Agreement; and
a $240,000 investment for community-based victim services organizations, that will provide additional support to enhance the critical services they provide to survivors of crime within our communities.
These estimates continue to support the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly by:
working with the RCMP to ensure that all 33 communities in the Northwest Territories have policing priority action plans in place, that are developed in partnership with community leadership, that are based on the specific needs of each community;
supporting community justice committees in the development of alternatives to the criminal justice system, such as diversion programs, community service, and crime-prevention programs;
making ongoing improvements to corrections programming to address the root causes that lead an individual to crime, integrate Indigenous culture and traditions, and support inmate reintegration back into their communities; and
finalizing the transition of the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River to a therapeutic community model, to ensure that participants in the program have person-centred care and much-needed support to turn their lives around.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. I would be happy to answer any questions of the committee.
Thank you, Minister. Does the Minister of Justice wish to bring witnesses into the House?
Yes, thank you.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right, I have Charlene Doolittle. She is the deputy minister. On my left, I have Mandi Bolstad, director of corporate services.
We will proceed to the review, beginning with the Department of Justice. I will now open the floor to general comments on the Department of Justice details. If there are no comments, does the committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document?
Agreed.
Thank you. Committee, we will defer the departmental summary and review the estimates by activity summary, beginning with community justice and policing, starting on page 262, with the information item on page 265. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister just refresh our memory about the program detail, protection against family violence? What does that fund pay for? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe what the Member is making inquiries about is funding that is provided to the YWCA of the Northwest Territories. They are one of the designated authorities for assisting individuals under the Protection Against Family Violence Act, and they can support people in the community who are seeking an emergency protection order to seek the protection order. Sorry, Mr. Chair. I realize I had flipped inadvertently a page ahead.
Yes, protection against family violence includes that. It also includes, Mr. Chair, the access to funding that is provided for the A New Day program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for that. Can the Minister tell us whether there has ever been review of the emergency protection orders or whether one is planned to determine how effective they are and how they can be made more effective? Thank you.
