Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Justice confirm if there has been, throughout this pandemic, any measured rise in drug trade in the NWT and has it resulted in a corresponding increase in drug enforcement or staff? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So during 2020, we saw an increase in drug trade, and there's been a trend over the last number of years of increases in that trend. That being said, there are, you know, new resources in this proposed budget for the RCMP. There have been new RCMP in Hay River in the last few years, and we have more RCMP per person than anywhere else in Canada. We have twice as many RCMP per person as most places in Canada. So I'm not sure that the issue is something we can arrest our way out of, but we definitely have a significant amount of enforcement already in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm if the direction this government is taking to combat the drug trade in the NWT working; do we need to reevaluate the department's approach and the RCMP's approach? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If anyone's familiar with the war on drugs in the United States, I think they've spent about a trillion dollars over the past number of decades and they have more people incarcerated for, you know, possession of drugs than anywhere else in the world, and they still have problems. So if this is like I said, this isn't something we can arrest our way out of. Now that being said, the RCMP are well aware of the situation. I know a lot of people measure the success of the RCMP by, you know, the number of maybe drug dealers in their communities. But the fact is that if there's a drug dealer who's arrested and put away, there's going to be another one who takes their place because there is a market. If there is someone who wants to buy drugs, there's going to be someone to sell them those drugs. So the investments that we've seen, not just in the territory but around the world, that have made the most difference are investments in things like helping people who are vulnerable in overnight shelters, in, you know, providing services for people who, you know, might be addicted or at risk of being addicted. So those are the types of investments that we need to focus on. Enforcement is, of course, an important part but it really is those social aspects that we need to focus on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I talked to persons addicted to drugs, or those that are dealing for that matter, I let them know that I'm willing to work with them to help them move away from that lifestyle. I also let them know that not changing their lifestyle or dealing with the addiction problem would result in one of three things happening, which is being murdered, overdosing, or being incarcerated.
Can the Minister tell me what emphasis is placed on education by law enforcement to convince people that selling drugs in the NWT is not a career path? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I don't have examples of, you know, RCMP giving talks in the schools but the RCMP does do a lot of community outreach. It's a little more prevalent I think in smaller communities where they have more opportunity to have the those oneonones. But I think that it should almost go without saying that it's not a great career, being a drug dealer. And it's not just the RCMP's job to instill that in people. Everyone needs to do that. And so in the education system, we can't just say don't be a drug dealer. We need to say here are some alternatives, these are things you can do. It's one thing to just say no, it's another thing and more successful if you give someone an alternative. So we are working on that as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community and residents of Hay River are very concerned with the events over the last several months that resulted in a number of overdoses and alleged drug offences. It has become a crisis.
Can the Minister confirm that he is willing to have his department set up a meeting with the RCMP, Town of Hay River, and NGOs, to discuss solutions to address the issue of the drug trade? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I was just on the phone with the mayor today of Hay River to talk about such a meeting where we bring together those organizations, and I'm happy to do that.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
