Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Great Slave on October 18, 2022, regarding a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Red Cross.
The Emergency Management Act empowers local authorities to enter into agreements for emergency management supports, which could include agreements with the Canadian Red Cross. The issue of the Government of the Northwest Territories entering into a moratorium of understanding with the Canadian Red Cross was raised at the NWT Association of Communities' annual general meeting on September 17th, 2022.
The GNWT recognizes the valuable services offered by the Canadian Red Cross, or CRC. The Ministers of Municipal and Community Affairs, or MACA, and the Department of Health and Social Services, met with CRC representatives to discuss services that could be available to the Northwest Territories through their organization. MACA and the CRC have explored how the services offered by the CRC could be used within the structure of the NWT Emergency Management Organization, or EMO.
Given the Emergency Management Act empowers local EMOs to enter into agreements like this, MACA has decided to not contract support with the CRC. While this may change in the future, at this time each community government is encouraged to examine their community emergency plans and determine if there is a role for external agencies such as the CRC. If community governments decide there is a need, they can contract services directly from the CRC.
The health and social services system has engaged in shortterm contracts with the Canadian Red Cross in the past and will continue to engage in the future when needed. While there are no current plans for additional contracts with the organization, this could change depending on circumstances and operational requirements.
I understand that the territorial planning committee, with membership from all government departments and agencies, will be reviewing the Northwest Territories' emergency plan in the near future. Through this committee, departments are supported to examine where an agreement with the Canadian Red Cross could be beneficial for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I recognize my visitors in the gallery, I would like to say that I misspoke during my statement and didn't realize that Oliver Williams was in fact Cabin Radio's Ollie Williams, and I would like to just clarify that. I was sent a memo just to let me know that that was the case.
I would like to recognize CKLB's reporter Ian Down, who is in the gallery today, and his parents, Richard and Valerie Down who are visiting Yellowknife for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome my constituency assistant Arlene Hansen who is joining me this week. Thank you very much, Arlene, for being here with me. And while I'm up here, Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to acknowledge our Inuvialuktun interpreters Lillian Elias and Valerie Stefansson from Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to start by recognizing two pages from the Range Lake North School that are in the House, Divyesh Chotalia and Ethan Bottomley. And I'm also going to try, for the hundredth time, to recognize a Range Lake constituent, Mr. David Wasylciw. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will recognize the Yellowknife North pages who are here today, because they can't go anywhere. And that's Emma Grace Wells and Seiya McEachern. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge and recognize the new chair of the YK1 School Board, Mr. David Wasylciw. Thank you.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Monfwi.
I would like to recognize our Tlicho interpreters Jonas Lafferty and Maro Sundberg and all other interpreters that are here today. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too want to recognize all the translators that are here today. Also, in particular, I'd like to recognize Tom Unka, Dennis Drygeese, Maro Sundberg, and Jonas Lafferty over there. Also the elders from translators from up North. Mahsi. Also I just want to recognize my wife at home, Aleda Edjericon. She's watching, so hi. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the translators Theresa Etchinelle and Sarah Clearly, and thanking them for translating our session here in the North Slavey language and having the people of the Sahtu enjoy our proceedings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Finance Minister tell us if the Government of the Northwest Territories has sought any feedback from Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, on the new Indigenous Employment Policy or the Employment Equity Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for ITI.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, a letter was sent, firstly, to all Indigenous governments back in October. Around that time, there was also a letter sent to colleagues from all of the Assembly, letting them know that this work was underway. This was, of course, in response to a commitment made in this House, I believe by the Premier, with respect to the Affirmative Action Policy and saying that it was high time to get this work moving. And so that consultative process, as I said, began in October and is continuing now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess maybe the Indigenous governments haven't read it yet. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if she is confident that the Dene, Inuit, and Metis people from the NWT will be supportive of the new Indigenous Employment Policy and the Employment Equity Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had two Indigenous governments reach out directly to my office to confirm that they wanted an opportunity to have a direct engagement on this. And I know that officials have also spoken with officials from the Department of Finance with respect to the engagements. And, Mr. Speaker, beyond that, though, with respect to what the reaction of individual members, groups, governments might be, that is not mine to presume or assume. What we have attempted to do, Mr. Speaker, is to design having both an Indigenous Employment Policy that is specific and to the Indigenous people in the Northwest Territories as well as an Employment Equity Policy which would finally modernize our system and bring us up to speed with how much of the rest of Canada, or arguably the rest of Canada is functioning, but in keeping with having the Indigenous Employment Policy here is to be reflective of the northern distinctive features that we have. And so it is my hope that we will finally be able to see some change and some movement in the public service so that it can be representative of the people here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why her department did not bring the new Indigenous Employment Policy and the Employment Equity Policy to Regular Members for feedback before it was announced publicly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I do have a letter that I understood had gone to Members in October. Obviously, things don't always go perfectly, and I don't know where those letters sometimes go on the other side. But it was sent in October, alerting them to the fact this was coming. More correspondence was sent in January and February to update as to the progress. I don't have a final policy yet. That's exactly where we're at. We've got a sense of the two policies and what we expect to see in them and how they might work. But as for the final drafts, I don't have them yet. Before they are in a fully final state, I'd be certainly happy to have a briefing with my colleagues to go over what we've heard, what information we've received, and apply that to, again, to the outline that we have before putting that final pen to paper. And so again, certainly looking forward to doing that. I certainly find that it is a helpful process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, if Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, or a majority of the NWT population rejects these two new policies mentioned, will the Finance Minister take that criticism seriously and amend these proposed policies to better reflect the will of the people of the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the human resources and the representation of the population of the North within the public service has been something I've taken very seriously in this role and that the department takes seriously. The Affirmative Action Policy, as it is now, was from 1989. It is woefully out of date. It is not in keeping with best practices. It arguably may not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And it's not showing achievement. We know we're sitting at 30 percent representation of Indigenous people in a territory with 50 percent representation. So we know there's work to be done.
What the policy is seeking to do by splitting it out is having an Indigenous Employment Policy so that we can continue to give a priority to a preference to people of the Northwest Territories the Indigenous people of the Northwest Territories while also bringing in an equity policy because we are recognizing that there's distinct groups that are also disadvantaged, including in the Northwest Territories. So people who may be LGBTQ2IA+ peoples, disabled peoples, who aren't right now reflected and given that kind of priority. So it is my hope that we will see that the new way of approaching this targets groups that are underrepresented, does so in a way that is, you know, reflective of the values of the North, and I hope will start to get us to a place where we have a representative public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reality in the Northwest Territories right now is that the drug trade is expanding. You know, we see, you know, the addictions growing. We see deaths increasing. We see families torn apart. And it's important that we do something before we can't handle it.
So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Justice tell me what happens when the RCMP seize large amounts of money, or assets, suspected to come from illegal activities; are these seizures made under criminal or civil legislation? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the RCMP has seized money or other property under the Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and Substances Act or other applicable federal legislation, there's a number of options available to the court with respect to that seized property. If there's been a conviction for any offences for which the accused has been charged, the Crown may make an application to have the court consider whether or not the seized property is related to the offence for which the conviction arose. If the court finds that the seized property is related to the offence, the court may order the seized things to be forfeited. In some circumstances, forfeiture can be sought by the Crown where the individual charged with an offence is not convicted. But those are limited to situations such as where the accused has died, abandoned the property, or cannot be located.
There is also provisions in various pieces of territorial legislation which deal with the forfeiture of seized property when a charge has been laid, some of which require applications and discretionary decisions by the deciding justice. And in some cases, there's automatic forfeiture upon conviction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds very complicated, and I'm not sure if we really accomplish much with it.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me with respect to the illicit drug trades, in the past year how many seizures of cash or assets were made by the RCMP, and how much of that was returned to those that it was seized from? And I realize I'm asking for statistics so I will allow the question to be taken on notice. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member's correct, my last answer was complicated. That's why I read it verbatim so I wouldn't get it wrong. But basically if there is a conviction, then property can be seized. If there is not a conviction, it's a different story altogether.
So I don't have the numbers that the Member is asking. As part of the efforts of the Department of Justice to start turning its mind towards this area, that is one area that we are looking into and I hope to be able to get those numbers at some point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I'm trying to do is to find tools for the RCMP and enforcement to, you know, combat drug trade in the Northwest Territories. So I'd ask the Minister to confirm if the department has looked at current civil legislation to see if it can be used to address some of the issues caused by the drug trade. And I'm talking about, for example, the Fire Prevention Act, the Residential Tenancies Act, can we use them as it stands now or can we tweak them so that we can make it so that the RCMP might be able to use it in fighting the drug trade? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And those are the same questions that I am asking. Sometimes drug houses might be fortified and so perhaps there is a way through existing legislation to enter those premises. The Residential Tenancies Act does have provisions which allows for evictions to occur when residents are carrying on illegal activities but that's initiated by the landlord, not by the RCMP. So there are some options available but not what the Member is looking for, but we are exploring those. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, and we're counting on, you know, criminal legislation and it's tough to get convictions sometimes. It takes a long time. And, for instance, you know, I had one constituent who had people in the house under the Residential Tenancies Act trying to get rid of somebody because there was illegal activities there. Well, you got to prove that in court and if you don't, they just stay there.
So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit his department to undertake a jurisdictional scan and review of civil forfeiture legislation and consider moving it forward in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point in the Assembly, all of the department's resources are committed to other projects. So I can't commit the department to do that work right now. However, as we wrap up the work that is ongoing in this government and move closer to the beginning of the next government, there should be an opportunity for the department to begin putting their mind towards this and start looking into these pieces of legislation.
I know that the civil forfeiture legislation, I believe it's in eight provinces and in Nunavut, it's been tried in Yukon, and it is somewhat of a controversial piece of legislation. So if we do move forward with this, it will likely have to be tailored to the territory, to the people of the territory, and I just hope that, you know, the next government does move with it. I hope they have the stomach for it because there are concerns around this legislation. But as the Member stated, we have to do something. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. I've inquired with our legal team, and I'm looking around the Rental Tenancy Act and I'm finding it very confusing. So the Act allows for public housing clients to be charged a maximum security deposit, which is equal to the maximum amount of one month's rent. Given that public housing clients are subsidized and some of them are paying like $80 in rent, most of them cannot afford a $1,600 security deposit.
So my question is, since the Minister spoke in March of this past year and agreed that there was a lot of work to be done on the act, has any work been actually done on the act and if not, is there a plan to do so? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last major amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act were in 2015. There have been amendments in 2017, 2018, and 2019. But since March, the department has been focusing on getting its current initiatives over the finish line. This is really the busiest time of the year, and we're trying to get everything wrapped up so there has not been work on the Residential Tenancies Act; however, the rental officer, in the annual reports, has been putting forward recommendations and so, you know, this is a live issue that the Member is talking about. So it will be considered early in the next Assembly when the department undertakes a review of the Residential Tenancies Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've seen on social media that a petition has been started to instill a maximum rent or rent cap for the NWT. Is this something that the Department of Justice could work on proactively ahead of receiving this petition? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, all of the resources of the department are tied up right now, and so there won't be any work on this. But it will inform the work that will be done in the next government. In 2014, prior to those 2015 amendments I mentioned, there was a significant amount of work done looking into capping rent; however, it was ultimately decided not to proceed down that road.
We really do need to take a look at the housing market in the territory and ensure that whatever we do does not hinder any future development because although a rent cap would, I'm sure, help a number of people, more houses would help more people. So it is a balance that needs to be struck. But we don't want to see people being evicted because of, you know, increases of 50 percent on their rent. So it is a live issue, and I'm sure the department will consider it in the next government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, it's actually a really live problem given that some people's rent just recently went up $1,000 a month here in Yellowknife, in the Premier's riding actually. So I'm not sure if she's done anything about it, but I'm highly doubtful, so does the Minister my apologies, Mr. Speaker.
Does the Minister have any plans to deal with the Birchwood Apartment situation that is ongoing right now? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would need a bit more description about what the Member is referring to by "the Birchwood Apartment situation." Thank you.
