Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, violent crime in the Northwest Territories is on the rise as is drug crime. Drug seizures are up a hundred percent, I believe, and homicides are up more so than that. This use when I was growing up here, this was a very peaceful place. You know, we didn't see anything like this at the scale that it's happening now. Does the Premier agree that this is a crisis that needs to be resolved? Thank you.
thank you, Member for Range Lake. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't like to use the term crisis but, in this situation, the influx of drugs, the increase in violent crime, the influx of handguns, I think that we are facing a crisis. The reason I kept the Justice portfolio this term is because I've seen what happened in my community of Hay River, and I wanted to make sure that I was able to follow through on some of the initiatives that we began to start addressing this because it is a deadly serious issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Premier for his leadership on this. It is something I very much support, and I want to commend him for bringing new resources to bear. Can he just let us know how this new crime reduction unit is going to make a difference. The RCMP say it's a game changer. Can he speak to that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, you know, we see RCMP around the community. We see them around town out on patrol. They're responding to calls. And that's what they do. They don't necessarily have the time to go out and conduct investigations, to do surveillance, to focus on some of these drugrelated issues because they are out doing their daytoday work. And so the crime reduction unit is able to work in those areas where the other constables just don't have the time to do it and aren't mandated to do that type of work. So they will be focusing on drugs, bootlegging, which often go hand in hand, and working with the federal unit as well in terms of dealing with organized time. So this is a unit that's being put together to address the issues that we are facing in the Northwest Territories right now. It is being tailored to the issues that we're facing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are expending the resources in this budget. We are committing to legislation in the future, but I think there are people worried about it now. When will they start seeing a difference in crime rates? When will they start feeling safer communities? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I had an answer for that. This is a tough situation. Everywhere that I'm aware of, where there's a demand for drugs, there's an influx of drugs. There's a flow of drugs. And so until we address that demand, it's going to be very difficult to stop the increases in crime. But that being said, the Member noted that there have been significant increases in drug busts, in charges, in seizures of handguns, so we are seeing the impact of enhanced enforcement. Unfortunately, there's also enhanced crime. So it's a bit of a it feels like a bit of an arms race right now. And we are making an impact. And I appreciate the Member bringing this up and actually all the Members in this House, it's one of the few things that we can all agree on is the need for more enforcement in this area. And that's really a sad comment on the state of things, but I think that it shows how important it is that we do continue this enforcement and these enhanced efforts. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these efforts are largely designed, I think, to combat organized time. What are we doing about community policing to make sure there's, you know, reassuring community safety officers on the streets, providing that support at the local level, connecting with people, especially the unhoused population that make a big difference in Yellowknife. We have a pilot in Fort Liard. Is the Premier willing to bring that pilot into Yellowknife and into other centres, like his community of Hay River, so we have more presence on the streets keeping people safe? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ultimately, I would like to see an expansion of the community safety officer program. I can't comment on where such a program might be most effective. Right now it is being piloted in Fort Liard. And the program will be evaluated, and that evaluation will inform the types of communities where such a program would be the most effective. So we want to make sure we're getting the best bang for our buck. And so maybe it is a small community type of program, maybe it's for regional centres, it could be for Yellowknife. So that remains to be seen, but we are continuously lobbying the federal government for support for these types of initiatives. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
