Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This summer I was given the honour of accompanying local RCMP and municipal enforcement division officers as they carried out their duties. With that we owe a debt of gratitude to the members of police forces across the NWT for the hard work they do and the sacrifices they make to keep our families safe from harm.
As legislators we also have a duty to assist our local police forces to do their jobs efficiently and effectively as possible. We can do this by helping create the right legislative environment that promotes ease of enforcement. Recently at our Yellowknife town hall meeting on public safety, we were all sadly reminded of the devastating effects of alcohol abuse in our communities across the Northwest Territories. We see the impacts of this abuse on Yellowknife streets where incidents of public drunkenness and open liquor are often too common.
It is a well-known fact that alcohol is a factor in the vast majority of crimes committed in the capital city, but it is sobering to consider the facts that support this. According to Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index for 2010, Yellowknife ranked third out of 238 Canadians cities with a population over 10,000 people for severity of its crime.
Given these facts, it might come as a surprise to you, as it was to me, to learn that unlike the RCMP, municipal enforcement officers are limited in their ability to enforce NWT liquor laws. They have the authority under the Motor Vehicles Act to make traffic stops if they suspect impaired driving on municipal streets. They also have the authority to inspect and deal with liquor infractions taking place in licenced premises, but they do not have the authority to deal with public drunkenness, open alcohol or underage drinking outside of licenced premises.
This means that our municipal enforcement officers are powerless to deal with public drunkenness even when we know that abuse of alcohol is the single biggest factor contributing to crime in the city.
This makes no sense to me. Peace officers, who have a duty to protect public safety, whether they are RCMP officers or municipal enforcement officers, should have the tools and authority they need to deal with all alcohol infractions. Members of the public would expect no less.
Enhancing the authority of municipal enforcement officers to effectively deal with alcohol infractions can only serve to reduce the frequency of alcohol-related problems, which in turn can help reduce the alarming incidents of crime plaguing our city and communities.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I am hopeful, through proper process, Members in this House will have the ability to consider this issue requesting the Minister of Finance to discuss and bring forward any amendments to the Liquor Act or other legislation as required to provide municipal enforcement officers with the authority to adequately enforce liquor infractions. The end goal will allow any municipality within the municipal enforcement presence to fully enforce NWT liquor laws within municipal boundaries if they choose to do so.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
