Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke about the issue about drugs throughout the Northwest Territories as coming through the borders. Mr. Speaker, my question would be to the Minister of Justice. Can the Minister of Justice shed light on why the South Slave no longer has a dedicated K-9 unit and when that service was lost? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The K-9 unit was established in Hay River after the death, the murder, of Constable Chris Worden. And it was stationed there until 2018. That was the time when the RCMP undertook a review of the situation, and they determined that it was not as effective to have the police dog in Hay River. It's a territorial asset. And so if there was an incident in the Sahtu, let's say, they would have to fly to Hay River, get the dog, and then head up. There's a number of other situations as well. I can leave it at that I guess, because things new things have come to light. But there's other issues like the inability of the RCMP to now just do, you know, quote unquote, random searches, you might not have the legal grounds to search someone. But, you know, you used to be able to go and sniff the dog around and see if got an indication if there was any contraband, any drugs, but you can no longer do things like that. So the value of having the dog in Hay River, according to the RCMP's analysis, wasn't there relative to having it in Yellowknife where it was easier to deploy to other places in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is our only current K-9 unit based in Yellowknife able to serve the needs of the entire Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I can assure the Member that, you know, I'm the Minister of Justice and I'm from Hay River, so these are not questions that I have not asked before. I've had conversations with my colleagues and with the commanding officer about this because I you know, I have that same sense as anyone else. Like, who doesn't want a police dog in their community, especially when you're feeling the effects of drugs. So the having the K-9 based in Yellowknife allows it to be quickly more quickly deployed to locations where it needs, whether that is in the South Slave or elsewhere, and it is often sent down to the South Slave. It also allows for enhanced or I guess easier training. There are requirements in place where the handlers and the dogs need training together at the same time. And so if the dog was outside of Yellowknife, it would have to fly into Yellowknife along with the handler, do the training, and fly back. So you'd be looking at three, four days out of the community every single week. So there are circumstances like that as well. There's also been issues with, I think, burnout with the RCMP who just have the one handler who is doing the majority of the work, the one's based in Yellowknife. So, you know, there's a multitude of issues here. And I'll say, if I had an unlimited budget, I'd have two dogs and two handlers in Hay River as well, but that's not the situation we're in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister for responding. Knowing what we know now about the drug problems in the Northwest Territories that impacts our homes and our communities, will the Minister take a look at reviewing this whole K-9 unit needed for Hay River and commit to funding that if possible. It's urgently needed here now in the Northwest Territories with the crisis we have and the drug problems. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have discussed this with the RCMP. They are not making that request for an additional K-9 unit so it's hard for me to force it on them if they're not asking for it. That being said, the landscape has changed. The ability for the dogs to go and do random searches of people essentially is not there anymore. And so we need to look at what other tools we can utilize that are going to be more effective given the new legal environment that we're living in. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you. I hear what the Minister is saying and, again, you know, we do have problems that are hitting home, and I'm deeply concerned about it as a Member. Is there so if we can fund it and we don't have the money, how can we address this issue to better monitor the drug problems as coming through the borders in the South Slave region here into the Northwest Territories; what can we do different? And can we maybe have a meeting with the RCMP and have them to look at this issue again and see if we could look at funding this again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is the commanding officer the former commanding officer is now gone but we have an acting commanding officer in that role, and I don't believe that the standing committee has met with that new commanding officer. So I recommend that they reach out and they request a meeting. I think that would be valuable to have these discussions, you know, with the people who would actually be, you know, working with the dogs. But to the Member's question, what can we do to disrupt the drug trade? Mr. Speaker, we're trying. The RCMP have a new strategy. I spoke about it yesterday. We've seen a significant, significant increase in the amount of drugs seized, the amount of charges. We're looking at new legislation. So we are taking steps to address this because, as I've said many times, I recognize the severity of the issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
