Kieron Testart

Just to speak to my colleague's comments on the rationale for building a rather large facility based on our female inmate population. Was their policy rationale in developing this facility based on those reports or was there something else at work that saw the construction of the brand new facility? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Well, I'll take the Minister at his word, which was "could," but have the residents in that subdivision, are they aware that there will be potentially cameras observing them, or is that not within the scope of this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The perimeter fence and security equipment, this is new fencing, as I understand it, apart from what's already completed, to separate the facility from the residential neighbourhood. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that there is funding that goes to Yellowknife's Dene, and they of course in close proximity, but they still have their own community and it's constituated its community. It's the City of Yellowknife that doesn't receive this funding, and the City of Yellowknife that increasingly has the needs of Northerners pressed upon it.

People come here for the services and there's always a constant and rising demand for services. So is there any way that the Minister can communicate that message to Ottawa for a direct partnership from the City of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will yield the balance of my time until tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for providing that update. What is our plan going forward now that there's an awareness that there'll be a shortfall for health funding? Is there a chance we can turn this around before we move into our next budget cycle or is this going to be reflected in the next budget? When will this reduction impact the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, has the Minister spoken to frontline staff or personally toured the facility to see their daily experiences and the challenges they face and, if not, will the Minister commit to do that so he gets a good sense of what our peace officers go through in their daily lives?

I'm sure committee and members of the public are looking forward to that fuller answer. I assume this meeting will be in public so the answer will be available to the public, as they would be in this House?

Mr. Speaker, on the morning of August 10th, an individual escaped custody from the North Slave Correctional Centre and almost immediately this information was in the media, sending the community of Yellowknife into a sense of great unease. Through the commendable efforts of the RCMP, the individual was apprehended three days later, on the morning of August 13th.

I applaud the efforts of our officers in “G” Division. They acted with great distinction in resolving this unprecedented incident in a peaceful manner. However, throughout the crisis the response from the Minister of Justice was...

Mr. Speaker, did this comprehensive review take into account any additional security concerns related to the neighbourhoods in my riding of Kam Lake close to the correctional facility? Was there an assessment done on potential security issues related to the close proximity of neighbourhoods with a correctional facility?