Mr. Speaker, absolutely. As I quite coincidentally was speaking about policing priorities, one of the roles that I have is to develop policing priorities that guide the unfolding of policing services across the Northwest Territories. I certainly heard that today and do intend, as I said earlier, to take that into account when developing those priorities. Yes. Absolutely, I will reach out to the commander of the detachment. We have regular meetings, but I will also engage with the Member more to ensure that there is input about these concerns when I am developing those priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Would the Minister consider asking the commander of "G" Division, or his or her designate, to meet with the community leaders of Fort Smith to address this major problem that is inflicting many members of our community and affecting family life?
I can certainly add the concerns raised here and, indeed, perhaps provide a copy of the Hansard of this Member's statement to the detachment commander to ensure that they are aware of those concerns that are being raised and encourage them to do what they can to engage directly. I can also ensure that, when we have meetings and engagements with communities, including with the community of Fort Smith, that I, too, am also being made aware of exactly the concerns by the community members directly from them so that we can continue to address them throughout the course of the next few years by the Department of Justice, as well.
Would the Minister consider that the commander of "G" Division, or his or her designate, meet with the two schools in Fort Smith to address the dangers of illegal drugs and the consequences of getting involved in the drug trade and the use of these substances?
Again, as I have said, I will certainly be raising with my counterpart at the RCMP, with my colleague at the RCMP, the concerns being raised on behalf of Thebacha. I know that going into the communities and going into the schools is a significant part of the work that the RCMP does. They spend a lot of time and a lot of effort making sure that they are continuing to be engaged in exactly that fashion. I am confident that they will continue to do that. I can also say that, on the part of community justice, which is within the Department of Justice, that we can look, too, to what is happening with our community justice committee in Fort Smith and ensure that they are making best efforts and all efforts to be engaged in the community and to reach out exactly as the Member has described to the youth in the community.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, would the Minister ensure that the commander of "G" Division makes it a priority for the members of the Fort Smith detachment to make enforcement of criminal activity in the drug trade a priority?
I am not in a position to say what the police priority action plans will be that are developed between the RCMP and a specific community, but again, I can certainly look at the policing priorities that are developed on the Ministerial level. Then we'll certainly have engagement again with our RCMP and to speak to them about the concerns that are being raised. I am confident that, when they go through their own process with the community, it is a direct engagement. I have asked them in the past about that process and sought assurance that they are developing their community policing action plans in a timely fashion and with direct engagement from the community. I will continue to have those conversations with the RCMP, and I am confident that, certainly, from the detachment level, they also recognize the importance of that direct community engagement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. As I said in my statement, the Yukon government is piloting a program to train Indigenous people to write Gladue reports. The purpose of the report is to inform the court of the background and circumstances of an Indigenous offender so that courts have consistent information when considering sentencing. My question is: has the Minister given any thought to funding a report-writing program like the one being piloted in the Yukon? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have given thought, and I have personally given thought, to whether or not we can fund that. As the Member is aware, Gladue report-writing's purpose is to provide better information to the courts so that they can make better decisions in a way that respect somebody's Indigenous heritage but also respects, sometimes, the systemic issues that impact an individual when they come before the courts. The ultimate purpose of that, Mr. Speaker, is to reduce the over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canadian prisons, particularly in Northwest Territories prisons. Ultimately, while having given thought to whether or not this is a direction we want to go, at this time, our focus is on other ways of actually achieving that same goal and putting those resources towards achieving that same goal in other ways. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That was an intriguing answer. Can the Minister tell us what other equivalent ways she is looking at reducing Indigenous representation in the justice system?
The Department of Justice will be doing some strategic planning when session is over. During the course of that, one of the priorities that we have that has been a personal priority for me is to achieve some movement in terms of the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons. There are ways of doing that by increasing our community engagement; by increasing community justice programming; by looking to diversion programs; by truly avoiding people going into the jail system in the first place; by, for example, reducing the amount of people who are in remand. There are a number of levers that we can pull, and those are all going to be levers that we are looking to to see what changes we can make both quickly but also systemically over time.
Any and all attempts to reduce Indigenous representation in the justice system and in corrections, I think, are welcome. I see the potential in Gladue reports, and I hope that the Minister will include this in her strategic planning session. Could I have that assurance, please?
More information doesn't hurt. More information is better, and certainly, we do need to ensure that the reasons that bring people before courts are fully understood. I have personally seen the difference that that can make in the course of a court proceeding. Yes, I will certainly assure that consideration is given to whether or not full Gladue reports can or should be included and whether resources should be directed in that vein.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. One of the intriguing ideas about the Yukon example is that it is a collaboration between the Council of Yukon First Nations, Legal Aid, and the territorial government. I encourage the Minister to have some research done into that program to see how it may be beneficial there. Is she able to make that commitment? Thank you.
I had the opportunity to meet with my colleagues from the Yukon at the First Ministers' Meeting that was held not long ago, and we had a very good conversation about a lot of initiatives that are happening in the Yukon right now. Indeed, some of our alternative courts were modelled after systems back in the Yukon. I can certainly assure the Member that those exact conversations with that jurisdiction will continue and that we will both continue to share best practices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister for Housing Corporation. Can the Minister tell me whether or not they have a way to triage their housing waiting list, knowing that, in my community, there are 80 single people on that list? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member's concern about the waiting list, and it is an ongoing problem throughout the Northwest Territories. Going forward, I will be working with my staff and trying to establish a way of how are we going to work with the people on the list and look at the differences between if the people are on Income Support or if they are on the public housing list. It's very complicated, and I need to pay a lot closer attention to understand why our waiting lists are so high. I will be working with the Member going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for that response. The commitment that I'm looking for is to take a look at that list in my community, where there are people who have been on there, like I said, six-plus years that I've actually dealt with. I know, after speaking to the Minister of ECE, that policies have changed, and maybe they've been sitting on that list all this time, not knowing that policies have changed in Income Support. Will the Minister commit to reviewing that list, going through that list, and possibly working with the Minister of ECE to ensure that clients who are on that list who could be supported by Income Support get some help?
Thank you to the Member for her question. Like I said, the housing list is a huge concern for me as the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Going forward, I want to look at an assessment of the list that is currently throughout the Northwest Territories. I want to assess that list and I want to work with my colleague, the Minister for Education, Culture and Employment, and try to look at solutions going forward and look at our policies and see where we need to amend our policies in order to be more effective in the Northwest Territories.
If you could provide the checklist or triage list, because I always hear they get points, and the more points they have, then the faster they will get a unit. If you could provide that kind of a document that the LHOs are using to score clients, that would be great. It would help us to be able to work with clients who are coming to us.
Yes, I will look at that list, and I will provide that to the Member. I want to do an assessment to look at this issue that we do have with the Housing Corporation. It is, honestly, very concerning. I do see that we have some people who have been on the waiting list for years, and I need to change that. I need to start working with the Northwest Territories and with my employees at the LHO level and start to find and identify solutions on how we are going to deliver a strong program and strongly work with our clients in the smaller communities.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason I bring this up, as well, is that we do have the homeless shelter, and the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation is the Minister who is responsible for homelessness. The people who have been living in our homeless shelter have been there for years, you know, and there is no movement in there where people transition into private accommodations, or anything, so maybe that's another area where she has staff in that department who can look at the people who are living there transitioning into, if they can transition into, support by Income Support, to make room for more people in there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes. As the Housing Corporation, we need to find stronger solutions. We need to find stronger initiatives to work with the people who are in our communities who are experiencing the homelessness, and we need to find stronger ideas on how we are going to be working with them going forward and exercising the programs and services the Government of the Northwest Territories currently has. Going forward, I will be working very closely with the Member and looking at solutions that will honestly probably affect the rest of the Northwest Territories and finding solutions on how we're going to work throughout the territory, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. In my statement earlier today, I outlined a number of issues or problems with the Surface Rights Board Act. These problems included the board's inability to refuse access, application of the legislation within municipal boundaries, air-only access, use of financial security to ensure compliance, compensation of the board, and allowing the board to hear from others than the parties to the dispute. These are in addition to the fact that the board hasn't actually been asked to resolve any disputes in seven years. Can the Minister tell us whether any of these issues, or others, have been raised with the department? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Surface Rights Board is a land claim obligation in the Gwich'in final agreement and is referenced in the Sahtu and the Tlicho agreements. The department has not heard from any IGOs or other governments or organizations about issues with this board presently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. During the review of the department's 2020-2021 Main Estimates, the Minister committed to look into the need to continue the Surface Rights Board; I've got that in Hansard here. This is a very helpful commitment because the legislation itself contains no provision for any kind of review. Can the Minister tell us how he intends to carry out this review, in consultation with Indigenous governments and the NWT?
In the main estimates, I did make a commitment that we should look at this board, and we did. One of the things we did was examine the land claim agreements, and I can confirm the Surface Rights Board is a land claim obligation in the Gwich'in and is also stated in the Sahtu and Tlicho agreements. This board is actually fully funded by the Government of Canada, so we have an obligation to have this board in place.
The Minister is right. There are provisions in the agreements for the board, and there is one year of funding, apparently, one year of funding. Many of these issues that I have raised about application within municipal boundaries, use of financial security to ensure compliance, these are not inconsistent with what is found in the agreements. I actually participated in the review of the original federal legislation. There was very little support for it at the public hearing in Yellowknife, except from the mining industry. Will the Minister commit to engaging Indigenous and the public, including the mining industry, during the review of the Surface Rights Board Act?
As the request, right now, we haven't heard anything from Indigenous governments. We haven't heard from the mining industry. Right now, we haven't heard, besides our Member here, and I appreciate his work leading up to this. Right now, we haven't heard anything from them. I can reach out to the three land claim agreements to see if they have concerns with it, but right now, we're not going to review this because it's an obligation in the agreements.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. There are provisions in the agreements for interim arrangements, as well, in the absence of legislation. This legislation was forced on us by the federal government, and I think it's time that we looked at it. Look, this board has been in place for seven years; not one dispute. That's, I don't know, over $2 million spent on this work, and no disputes to resolve. Can the Minister give us a schedule for the review that he has committed to undertake on the Surface Rights Board Act? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
As I said, we have not heard anything from Indigenous governments on this concern. We are under the process that we will review this if there is a new land claim settled, and we would actually start the process then. I am willing to work with the Member to see how we and the committee can start this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier today in my statement, presently, there is no such thing as an agricultural lease in the Northwest Territories. My question to the Minister of Lands is: when can we see agricultural leases in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Presently, people wanting agricultural leases need to apply through commercial activity. This work that Lands and ITI are currently undertaking will address agricultural activities. Right now, we are working on it, but presently, they would have to go through the commercial lease act process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I quite often hear that Lands is working on things, but I rarely hear that Lands has completed things. The issue with going through the commercial lease process is that you cannot live on a commercial lease. If you're going to farm, you should probably live there. My question is: is the Minister willing to review the commercial leasing process to see if agricultural people can live on the land?
