Debates of October 14, 2004 (day 20)

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. My question is for the Minister of Justice. Given that the total complement of RCMP officers in the NWT was increased in April of this year, and given that the total complement of RCMP officers at the Fort Simpson detachment was decreased at the same time, can the Minister of Justice determine why there has been such a significant relative decrease in the need for police services in the Nahendeh riding? I’ll just rephrase that. Can the Minister of Justice determine why there has been such a significant decrease for the need of police services in the Nahendeh riding while there’s an overall increase in the NWT? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Justice, the Honourable Charles Dent.

Return To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member is aware, the RCMP determines the need for staffing and where their staff are located. I have discussed the issue with the chief superintendent. He’s assured me that based on the coverage in the Northwest Territories, they have about 177 members in the Northwest Territories, plus support staff; so a total complement of about 200. They’ve taken a look at what the needs are based on crime across the Northwest Territories, and he has assured me that their decisions about where staff are located are based entirely on need and that the Nahendeh region has a substantially lower crime rate than many other regions. Because of that and because of the staffing levels -- they only have the 177 members to work with -- they’ve had to choose where to put them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that the RCMP have determined that the need for police officers in the Nahendeh riding has decreased, and given that the number of police officers working in the NWT has increased, can the Minister determine precisely where in the NWT has there been such a significant increase in the need for police services? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a real growth, particularly in the southern part of the Northwest Territories, in the drug trade which has caused a need for greater resources in this region. We’ve seen a number of larger drug busts in Hay River, Yellowknife, and along the highway recently. That’s certainly lead to some of the concerns. Further north, in the Delta, because of the oil and gas activity, there’s been an increase, too, in crime. That’s led to some of the changes. The ruling that we could no longer have single-person detachments has also caused us to have to increase staff over the past two years because we could no longer have detachments with just one member or leave detachments with one member when a member went on holidays or had to leave to attend court. What that has caused the RCMP to do is increase staffing in some areas so that they have people available to travel to communities when one of the officers is going to be away. So, for instance, somebody based in Inuvik now goes to Sachs Harbour or Paulatuk when one of the officers there is going to be away on holidays or on training. Before we would have had to remove the other officer that was in Paulatuk because you couldn’t leave one officer alone.

So a lot of the increase has gone to make sure that we can continue with staffing in the smaller communities and to provide increased services to those communities without any staff at all. For instance, there has been a pretty significant increase in the number of visits this year to communities like Sachs Harbour that don’t have resident RCMP at all, because the RCMP has been able to increase their staff in the Inuvik region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I thank the Minister for his response. So far, the only explanation that we have received for reducing the police services in the Fort Simpson detachment is that it was made based on crime statistics and other indicators. Given that this decision will affect the safety and wellbeing of everyone in my riding, can the Minister of Justice determine precisely what factors or indicators were considered in making the decision so that we in the Nahendeh riding can determine what must happen in order to have the position returned to us or even, indeed, maintain our present staffing level? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would argue that this is a good thing. I don’t think that Mr. Menicoche would want to see the statistics change so that his region needed another RCMP officer. What I have heard from the RCMP is that based on what they see in the Nahendeh region, there is less need for policing than there is in other regions. That, Mr. Speaker, is good news. It means that there is not as high a crime rate there. In terms of the other factors, I am not sure what other factors they may have used. I can certainly ask the RCMP to outline those to me and I will forward that on to Mr. Menicoche as soon as I have that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago we had a public meeting with the RCMP. One of the officers did indicate that they hate to be proved wrong or proved right. I, too, hate to risk the lives or risk a major incident that will threaten the safety and wellbeing of our constituents that they were wrong in doing this. I believe it was a wrong decision, I maintain that, just for the mere fact that some of the changes in the community affect the outlying smaller communities like Wrigley, Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte. One of them was the government liberalizing the alcohol rationing system in Fort Simpson. People are accessing more booze, and they are bringing it to the communities and in Fort Simpson itself. As well, of course, increased development that is already happening; there are drifters in the community disrupting the balance that is there right now. I would just like to ask, will the government and the Minister indicate our displeasure and lobby for us to maintain our existing staffing levels in that Fort Simpson RCMP detachment? Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 218-15(3): Reduction Of RCMP Services In Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the RCMP review their staffing needs across the Northwest Territories on a regular basis. About three or four years ago, they did a study that showed that across the Northwest Territories they needed an extra 27 members. At this point, this government has not come up yet with enough money to fill those 27 positions. I will certainly be working with my colleagues to try and finish that up in the next budget so that we can achieve that. I would expect that shortly after we have done that, since it has been a number of years, that the RCMP will again embark on a study or review of what their needs are across the Territories. Certainly, with the filing of the pipeline application, I expect that they will have some concerns about policing along the route of the pipeline. I would expect that they will then be coming forward to this government with a request to deal with what may be a shortage of personnel at that time. At that point, it will be up to us to try and respond. That is the process. We will continue to work with them to try and make sure that the public safety needs across the North are adequately met. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.