Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about a shortage of RCMP staff in the community of Fort Smith. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice if he believes that a lack of RCMP staff would translate to a lack of overall public safety for the people of Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member's asking me for my opinion, I don't want to give my opinion about situations like this. I'm not a police officer. I don't know the ins and outs of the situation in Fort Smith. But the RCMP are aware of their staffing numbers. This is not the first time that they haven't had a full complement of officers in a community. And as the Member stated, they have sent someone in to that community. They have the ability to send in additional officers to that community if they feel that they need to. So I would say that the RCMP has this situation in hand, and if there's a need for additional officers temporarily, they have the ability to do that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us what the Department of Justice is doing to address the RCMP staff shortage that is currently affecting Fort Smith and other NWT communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is a national issue. This isn't just one community in the Northwest Territories. During the pandemic, the depot where RCMP officers are trained in Regina was shut down and it was not accepting new recruits and was not graduating new recruits. So we are now in a time where there's a shortage across Canada of RCMP officers because they weren't training. So this is an issue that everyone is feeling. However, this is part of the daily operation of the RCMP. If there's staffing shortages, they deal with them. And the department works with them to deal with them. We do have a contract with them. And we work through the mechanisms in that contract to ensure that they are providing the services that we are paying for. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide a timeline or any further details for which he anticipates that all or most of the vacant RCMP staff positions will be filled in Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have that level of detail. But I can get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister assure me that the RCMP vacancies can be filled with casual members from other jurisdictions until the permanent staff are all in place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have control of the operations of the RCMP so I can't make that assurance personally. But the RCMP is aware of the situation and they do have the ability to bring in other officers, as I've stated. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
