Agreed.
Thank you. We'll now move to legal aid services beginning on page 310, with information items on page 311. If there are no questions, please turn to page 310.
Justice, legal aid services, operations expenditure summary, Main Estimates 20232024, $7,991,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will now turn to the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations beginning on page 313, with information items on page 314. Questions.
There's no questions, please turn to page 313. Justice, Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations, operations expenditure summary, Main Estimates 20232024, $1,230,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will now go to policing services on page 316. Questions? If there are no questions, please turn to page Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I know I was trying to listen to the Minister's opening remarks. How much of this increase in policing services is actually kind of a result of collective agreement requirements? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
$5,314,000.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks. I don't know, is any of this public in terms of what the percentage what's the term of the collective agreement? I'm just wondering is this going to continue to increase over time, or is this like a onetime thing; how's that going to play out? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. I imagine that every time a new collective agreement is negotiated that there will be increases. The current collective agreement expires at the end of this month. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks. So I'm just trying to figure out then there's an agreement in place. Does it actually set out what the anticipated requirements are of GNWT in terms of funding year by year in the agreement, or is it kind of a negotiated arrangement each year; how does this work? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So we work with the RCMP to determine resourcing levels, and if there are increases that they are requesting then we can work with them to implement those. And depending on the type of service, generally we pay 70 percent and the federal government pays 30 percent of those costs. We do have the First Nation and Inuit policing program where it is more of a 50/50 cost sharing split. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Okay, thanks, Madam Chair. So basically it sounds like it's negotiated on an annual basis and then shows up in the main estimates and would include things like collective agreement increases, if there's a desire of change in service levels, in individual communities and so on. Is that the case, and how much input or influence do we really have on this? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So we have the budget for the previous year, let's say, and then the RCMP says we need more or we would like more resources here. Then we can work with them through our normal budget planning process to put those resources into the budget. So it's similar to other divisions of the government in that sense that it does follow the normal business plan process. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, no, I don't think I have any other questions. Thanks, Madam Chair.
All right. Are there any further questions on policing services? Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about the First Nations policing program. Can you provide a status on that and how many people are in that program? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. I believe we currently have nine officers under that program. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And how successful is it, I guess? Are we looking at potential expansion of it or contraction? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So this program, it is it's a program to put officers in communities and the way they police is what's called community policing. So it is working with the community; it's getting to know the community. That's the whole idea. We do that across the territory. That's the way the RCMP operates across the territory so they integrate well into the rest of with the rest of the RCMP. And we are actually looking we are discussing whether or not we can expand that program. For many years, we did pursue the federal government and tried to get an increase to our allocation. I believe we had five members funded through that for the longest time. And a couple years ago got an increase of another four. And we would like to see more because it is a 50/50 cost share as opposed to 70/30. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I was just looking at the 2021 or 20212022 actuals, and it's showing at $1.55 million, and then in the main and revised we're looking at $429,000. What's the big change there? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. That would be the five additional members. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you. Also in the biology case work, I see a decrease there from 275 to 183, is that correct?
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Bancroft.
Mr. Bancroft.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The 275 represents actuals related to the biology case work program, which is the cost sharing program for all of our lab work for the RCMP. And they did see a significant cost increases due to diminished capacity as well as increased caseload during the pandemic. So what we're seeing there is an increase in those costs. And yes, thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I recall there being a discussion, I think, at one time about reporting of, I guess, the RCMP or the head office here to somewhere in Alberta now. Is that something that's happening, or if you can maybe provide some background information or some context to it? No?
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. No.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. With the increase in I guess or it appears there's an increase in drugs coming in the territories and, you know, increase in, you know, addictions and that type of thing. Is there anything in the budget incorporated to address that area because it seems like drugs are, you know, the big problem in all areas. It's you know, it's in it's in, you know, the health. It's in, you know, suicide. It's in violent crimes, all that. So I'm just wondering how much effort that the RCMP would be putting into that area now as we see that increase keep climbing. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So I have met with the commanding officer on this as well as other detachment commanders across the territory. And I know that they are focusing on it. They are seeing these increases. And this is what they do, they enforce the law. And when it comes to drugs, they see the negative impacts; they know that where we are now is in a better position than where we could be in the future and they're doing their best to try and stop us from getting to that. So there has been an increased focus. As well I've been working with the department to try and figure out what we can do on our side to get better data about what's going on, to see what sort of civil legislation we might be able to enact to support the RCMP. And I think that the Member may have noticed an uptake in the number of drug busts that we're seeing. I know there was a long period in Hay River where we didn't really have a lot of those busts but we have seen a few of them now. So it is indicative of increased drug use and increased crime, but there's also showing that the RCMP are taking it seriously. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
