R.J. Simpson

With me I have Charlene Doolittle, deputy minister of the Department of Justice, and James Bancroft, director of corporate services. Thank you.

I'd like to hand it to the director.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I can assure the Member that, you know, I'm the Minister of Justice and I'm from Hay River, so these are not questions that I have not asked before. I've had conversations with my colleagues and with the commanding officer about this because I you know, I have that same sense as anyone else. Like, who doesn't want a police dog in their community, especially when you're feeling the effects of drugs. So the having the K-9 based in Yellowknife allows it to be quickly more quickly deployed to locations where it needs, whether that is in the South Slave or elsewhere...

Thank you. We do have a plan for that position. It has not been reduced. And we're just holding off pending the approval of this budget. We don't know how things are going to go with the negotiations with Members, whether or not we're going to need to find additional money and where we might need to find that money. So I look forward to staffing that position once we are through this process, if we make it through successfully. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here to present the 20242025 Main Estimates for the Department of Justice. Overall, the Department's estimates propose an increase of $3.8 million, or 2.6 percent, over the 20232024 Main Estimates. These estimates support the mandate objectives for the department while continuing to meet the GNWT's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

Forced growth funding of $1.9 million which consists of additional policing resources for Fort Providence, the establishment of the RCMP "G" Division Territorial...

Multiyear funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are always going to the federal government. The Department of Justice hustles to find agreements, to find pots of money that they can access. And so I wouldn't say we're going back to them, but there is a constant dialogue and there's always not always new agreements but there are a number of agreements. And we do give our two cents to the feds about what we would like to see and what direction we would like to see their agreements go in if it's not one that works for the territory. And as always, I when I speak to the federal Ministers, I say we need ensure that...

Point of Order, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member I believe the Member was questioning whether or not the Minister was using fact or fiction, essentially telling mistruths. But I may have misheard the Member and if I did, I apologize. But from this side, it sounded like the Member had crossed that line. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate those comments. I look forward to the Members on this. Thanks.

Thank you. So when we integrate services, we integrate them from all departments, and so the money that the Member's referring to exists in health's budget, in housing's budget. Perhaps the deputy minister can provide a bit more detail. Thank you.