Date
October
20
2006
Members Present
ITEM 1: PRAYER
Assembly Members
Debates of October 20, 2006 (day 12)
Topics
Statements
Member’s Statement On Safe Communities And Neighbourhoods Act
Robert Hawkins
Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last June I urged Justice Minister Bell to follow the lead of other Canadian jurisdictions and bring forward a Safe Communities and Neighbourhood Act for the NWT, along with effective enforcement tools.
I proposed this new initiative so we could bring community empowerment back to folks and take it away from those drug dealers and crack houses from trying to take over our communities. Mr. Speaker, I asked the Justice Minister to move quickly on this discussion paper and to bring a bill with the hope that new legislation could be implemented in this Assembly in a timely way. I, therefore, welcomed the Premier’s announcement in the sessional statement given a few days ago that the GNWT will embark immediately on public consultations bringing forward this issue during this session. The legislation is needed because it gets drug dealers out of our community. It empowers the neighbourhood to say we belong here, get out of our community, quit trying to destroy our good, lawful livelihood, Mr. Speaker.
This is a new law, Mr. Speaker, that will improve our community’s safety by targeting and, when necessary, shutting down residential and commercial buildings and lands that are habitually used for illegal drug activity as producing, selling or using illegal drugs, prostitution, solvents and other unlawful sales and consumption of alcohol, Mr. Speaker. This is a law that will do something.
I will continue my full support for the government on this initiative and I want to send a heartfelt congratulations to this government for recognizing the sense of urgency that citizens need action from this government. When Mr. Handley stood up on Tuesday and said this would be a lead initiative in this government, it was well received in my community by my constituents. They could see that this government is doing something innovative. So, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions later for the Minister of Justice and I appreciate this government’s attitude to dealing with public safety first. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.