Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice.
In June of 2020, I called on then Minister of Justice to draft missing persons legislation for the Northwest Territories in response to the MMIWG Call for Justice number 5.8.
This summer the Department of Justice started the call for feedback for potential missing persons legislation here in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister inform the House what kind of feedback was received? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that's correct, between June 16th and July 25th of this year, the Department of Justice held public engagement. So the engagement consisted of an unanimous online survey that asked residents a number of questions related to missing persons legislation. The department also sent letters directly to Indigenous governments, mayors, the RCMP, and various other partners and stakeholders to invite them to participate in the survey. We received 81 responses. Most questions or most had a strong consensus. While many residents agreed that law enforcement should be able to access some private information to aid in an investigation for a missing person, privacy and protection of personal information was a common concern and most respondents agreed that law enforcement should limit the information publicly released about missing persons.
A significant number of respondents believed that the information accessed by law enforcement about third parties related to missing persons cases should be limited. Respondents wanted clear legislation with an emphasis on limiting jargon where possible. Some also called for legislation specifically accounting for vulnerable groups of missing persons fleeing from domestic abuse or those who cannot or do not want to return home. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the participation of the Native Women's Association in the inquiry, was input received from the Native Women's Association or from Indigenous governments? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the feedback that was submitted online was unanimous, so it was possible that these organizations did submit feedback. And I will say that despite the engagement period being closed and the drafting of the What We Heard report being near completion, we're always open to feedback. If we receive a letter now from an Indigenous government or the Native Women's Association, that will definitely be taken into consideration. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what are the next steps for the Department of Justice to draft this legislation, and when does the GNWT expect to table a bill in the House? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next steps would be ensuring that the information provided through the public engagement is analyzed. That will then be used to develop a legislative proposal and then the process that follows is that legislative proposal goes to standing committee, comes to Cabinet, the bill is drafted, and hopefully introduced in the winter sitting. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
