Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last five years complaints were made to the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP about NWT officers. Most of these grievances filed were for alleged excessive use of force. Investigations into many of these incidents revealed that the officers in question had faced assaults on their own by complainants and none of the officers were found to have been in violation of excessive use of force. These reports show us that there’s a troubling number of RCMP members who go through a very difficult job. What is the Minister of Justice doing with our government’s resources to support our police officers in the field here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, of course 70 per cent of the RCMP budget is actually paid for by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The individual programs dealing with these types of issues of course are those of the RCMP. I believe they receive training, extensive training, at Regina. Our resources go into supporting the RCMP. In that way; however, they devise the programs that they feel are most appropriate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Maybe to clarify, some of the RCMP officers reported that they were physically assaulted consistently on the job, verbally assaulted even more so, and one example where excrement was involved. This is unseemly treatment and it’s entirely unjustifiable. The role of the RCMP is very important in our communities and we have community justice committees. Are these community justice committees being used to build strong partnerships where RCMP members have the ability to express these concerns to local leadership and make a real difference in the community in terms of their treatment as police officers who are keeping us safe?
Yes, the RCMP of course do have relationships and agreements with all of the communities in the Northwest Territories. Although I’m not sure what is discussed at the meetings, I know that there are meetings on an ongoing basis. Certainly, I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I think the story the Member opposite is referring to shows some of the risks and dangers our RCMP members face on a daily basis. I would hope that those concerns are brought forward to community meetings, and, as I say, the RCMP do have community meetings with all of the communities in which they have detachments, and even the ones they don’t have detachments there are agreements with those smaller communities.
The RCMP are not the only peace officers working here in the Northwest Territories to keep Northerners safe, we also have many territorial police officers, including sheriff’s officers and the Department of Justice. Can the Minister explain if there’s a similar complaint process in the Department of Justice for sheriff’s officers, and how many complaints were received in the last year?
I’m not aware of any complaints that have been received. If there are, I will certainly look into that and get back to the Member with that information. I’m not certain also whether there is a complaints process specifically dealing with peace officers that are not RCMP officers so, again, I will look into that and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s imperative that the public has confidence in our security services, including sheriff’s officers. I would strongly recommend the Minister to be aware of those processes and, furthermore, to meet with peace officers, in particular the sheriff’s department, and get firsthand information about what they go through on a daily basis. Will the Minister commit to meeting with the sheriff’s office and seeing if their experience is similar to what RCMP members have gone through in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There may be similar issues with the sheriff’s office that are clearly issues with the RCMP. I will have the department contact the sheriff’s office to see if there can be a discussion on these issues that have been raised by the Member opposite.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
