Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a question for the Minister of Justice.
On October 21, 2024, the Minister mentioned introducing new legislation that is intended to help the communities and RCMP address these impacts. Can the Minister advise the House if this legislation is ready, and if not, can the Minister provide a timeline for when it will be introduced? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Two questions in one there. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member is correct, I have announced that we are looking to introduce three pieces of legislation to help with public safety. So the first is the SCAN legislation, and that stands for safer communities and neighbourhoods. And that's the type of legislation that allows for buildings to be temporarily shut down and if there's residents there, those residents would have to find somewhere else to go if those buildings are causing harm to a community and that can be proven on a balance of probabilities in court. So it bypasses the Residential Tenancies Act and the criminal justice system. And so this is a system that is used in jurisdictions across Canada and has been effective at shutting down drug houses. So this is one tool that I want to provide to communities.
We also have the Trespass Act. And I've heard from a number of MLAs, and I've heard from, you know, my own constituents, that there are some apartment buildings that have unwanted drug dealers in them, and they just can't get them out. And so this would allow, in those instances, for those individuals to be removed and make those apartment buildings and the families in them safer.
And the other piece of legislation is civil forfeiture legislation. And sometimes if the RCMP arrest someone with a stack of drugs and a stack of money but there's no conviction, they have to give that money back. Civil forfeiture legislation would allow the RCMP to apply to the courts to prove -- and if they can prove on a balance of possibilities that that money was gotten through criminal activity, then they can retain those funds. They can do the same thing for vehicles and houses and other assets as well.
So the idea behind these pieces of legislation is to make the Northwest Territories a less inviting place for drug dealers to do business. We want to make it a miserable place for drug dealers to do business. SCAN legislation is under -- there's still research happening. This spring, we hope to go out for public engagement, maybe have a legislative proposal later this year. I understand this is a controversial piece of legislation. It has been in the past. And so there might be some movement in those timelines there because we want to make sure we get the support and get it right. And the other pieces of legislation are likewise expected to be completed and hopefully have the bills passed during the life of this Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you for the answer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement, safe residents and communities has been a priority of this Assembly. What actions are the Minister and the department taking to address the priority in light of recent drug and gun related crimes in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Minister of Justice, I provide the RCMP with their policing priorities. Priority number 1 is to address the impacts of drugs and alcohol on our communities, so illegal drugs and bootlegging on our communities. That's my first priority that I've given to the RCMP. So that's step one.
In this fiscal year, we funded a new crime reduction unit to be made up of RCMP officers who are going to focus on organized crime and drugs. They'll have the time and the specialized training to undertake investigations and hopefully -- well, not hopefully. They're going to make a dent in the drug trade in the territory. We've also funded additional officers for the emergency response team to help that crime reduction unit go kick in doors when it's necessary. There have been officers added, regular duty officers added around the territory every year for the last number of years. We are also on the other end looking at providing supports for individuals who are released from jail or need to navigate the justice system to hopefully stay out of the justice system. We have a number of programs like this rolling out, and I look forward to discussing these more in the coming weeks and months. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to investigate whether the Behchoko RCMP detachment need more resources or personnel to continue traffic stops and combat the problem we are facing? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it was in the last fiscal year there were two positions added to the detachment in Behchoko. Last year -- this fiscal year I think there was one in Whati, and next year there's another one. And so there's a number of positions going into the Tlicho region. What we -- the way we work with the RCMP is that they identify the pressures in different communities, and we work with them to resource them as necessary. And so there are pressures around the territory, but we have recognized those in the Tlicho region and responded.
The RCMP have also implemented their new divisional drug strategy across the territory. And that's part of the reason why you see in the news more check stops resulting in drug seizures. It's because the RCMP are -- they have taken a different approach in the last maybe year and a half, and it's paying dividends, and we see it in the news with these regular drug busts. And this is -- we all take this issue seriously. We've heard it throughout the House today. You know, every -- the last few years, I think the coroner reported around six or seven deaths because of toxic overdoses. But that's not the end of it. There's also more deaths associated with the drug trade. There's murders, there's executions, there's suicide, there's human trafficking. So we recognize the weight of this issue, and we are responding. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
