Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about Health and Social Services to get their social workers to work in collaboration with our local RCMP. I think we can create a pilot project here in Yellowknife that could be extended throughout the North. With every opportunity that we can build positive relationships, I think, is a good thing.
In the context of working in a helping hand approach, would the Minister be willing to look at and examine a situation as described through what the Vancouver Policing Services uses, by getting some social workers out there on the street working through a drive-along program with the RCMP to talk to people and get to know what some of their problems are and work to help solve them?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services is willing and prepared to work with the Department of Justice and RCMP to see if this type of program, where the social worker rides with the RCMP, is possible.
Would the Minister be willing to help designate someone from the Department of Health to work with me and the RCMP to help raise the profile of this particular issue? In the coming months, I realize this is not something that, if you said yes today, we’d start tomorrow, but in the months we could prepare and build a bit of objectives and work together to a collaborative solution to help people, namely youth of course, but to help people on the streets in the night that do need that little assistance.
Yes, I am willing to appoint someone to work on the committee.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
