Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today we honour the memory of one of our own RCMP officers. Constable Chris Worden lost his life one year ago today while responding to a call in Hay River. Later today the RCMP will be adding his name to the cenotaph outside G Division headquarters in Yellowknife.
On behalf of our government I extend my condolences to the Worden family and to the brave officers who serve our communities so faithfully. This incident is a tragic reminder that serious crimes do happen here. All too often they are related to illegal drug trafficking and use.
In the past few months we have seen high profile drug seizures in Behchoko, Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik. The RCMP has also made seizures of drugs that were clearly headed to our smaller communities and to work camps.
We have a solemn duty to honour Christopher Worden’s memory, not just when we speak about the events that led to his death but every day around our territory. We owe our officers a debt of gratitude. They need to know they are supported. This government is taking the steps to ensure that the new backup policy is fully implemented.
In the North there is no such thing as a routine call. More and more often our officers are dealing with people who are carrying weapons or trafficking hard drugs like crack cocaine and ecstasy.
Drugs are a serious concern for our territory. They are certain paths to jail, heartache and family breakdowns. I have talked to many elders who have told me about family members who have destroyed their lives with illegal substances. Fighting drugs is a priority for this government.
Over the long term we are working towards increased police presence in all of our communities and to fully implementing the RCMP backup policy. But this is not something the RCMP can fix on their own. Fighting crime will take a community effort. It’s easy to call for more policing, but the drug dealers will never go away as long as there are still people in our communities who are willing to buy drugs. This is going to take real effort from all of us. We need to refuse to buy drugs. We need to encourage our family members to go into treatment centres. We need to let the dealers know we don’t want them to sell drugs in our communities.
Some of the dealers are from outside the NWT, but others are our own friends, neighbours and families. This government will support people who want to go into treatment, but we are also determined to get the drugs out of our communities.
We plan to open new RCMP detachments in Gameti and Wrigley and to increase the number of RCMP officers in our existing detachments that service remote communities. We will ensure the RCMP have adequate resources to make more patrols to our smaller communities. They are supported by specialty units like the police dogs and major crime units.
During my past year as Minister I have been consistently impressed by the dedication and professionalism of our RCMP. This government supports their effort to make our communities safer. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Ms. Lee.
