Has the N.W.T. gov't made the territory any safer?

Has the N.W.T. gov't made the territory any safer?

New legislation is in the works, or has already passed, but MLAs say some residents still don't feel safe

Safety remains a major concern for residents in the N.W.T. and a top priority for the government. But has the territory actually become any safer?

Ahead of its next sitting in October, and with about one year left in the 20th Legislative Assembly's term, CBC News is checking in on its four top priorities, starting with “safe residents and communities.”

Justice Minister Jay Macdonald didn’t comment directly on whether public safety has improved in the nearly three years since this government took office. Instead, he pointed to legislation he says will help make the territory safer.

He mentioned the Trespass Act (passed this year), the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) legislation and the Civil Forfeiture Act, which the territory is seeking input on, as examples.

"I think our contributions to public safety certainly have improved," said Macdonald.

Residents don't feel safer, MLAs say

But in Yellowknife, some residents are still concerned about safety on the city's streets.

One resident, who was interviewed by CBC News concerning priorities for the upcoming municipal election, cited social problems affecting the city's downtown.

"You have two sides of the coin. You have businesses that need to be able to operate, but also people that have addictions — they need help," he said.

In recent months, public safety has been a focus of two town halls hosted by Yellowknife MLAs. Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, and Kieron Testart, MLA for Range Lake, agreed with Macdonald that recent legislation should improve things for residents.

But that doesn’t mean people are feeling safer.

“I’m seeing problems. Neighbourhoods complain about people continually going through vehicles, stealing property through yards. People see their personal items taken to encampments,” said Hawkins.

Testart agrees. He also recently travelled the territory to hold town halls on SCAN legislation. He says residents outside Yellowknife don’t feel safe either.

“They feel like they're being taken advantage of by drug dealers and gangsters and criminals," he said. "It’s not just Yellowknife.”

‘Nuisance calls’ boost N.W.T. on crime severity index

Despite seeing a drop from the previous year, the territory ranked first on Canada’s crime severity index in 2025 — a tool to measure the volume and severity of police-reported crime. It got there, in large part, because of “nuisance calls,” according to RCMP Chief Superintendent Dyson Smith.

“So your mischiefs, your disturbances, your liquor offences, things that take up a lot of time and resources, but don't necessarily in itself contribute to any violent uptick,” Smith said on CBC’s The Trailbreaker.

When calculating for the crime severity index, Smith says each crime has an associated point value. The more severe the offence, the higher the value. A nuisance call, like mischief, is worth 10 points, while a homicide is worth 1,000 points, Smith explained.

We joined Yellowknife RCMP for a foot patrol in downtown

In the N.W.T. last year, nuisance complaints dominated — there were nearly 19,000 calls for service for mischief alone, according to RCMP’s own statistics.

“It actually drives our index very high,” said Smith, who also mentioned that police are taking on a high volume of lengthy mental health calls.

Smith says investments in social programs would not only drop the territory on the crime severity index list, but would also free up time for police to investigate more serious crimes and offences.

“There's a plethora of different programs and different initiatives that have been proven in other jurisdictions to have an impact on reducing the crime rate,” said Smith.

Have thoughts on whether the N.W.T. government is meeting its top four priorities? Share your thoughts with Devon at devon.tredinnick@cbc.ca.

Devon Tredinnick is a reporter with CBC North in Yellowknife. You can reach him at devon.tredinnick@cbc.ca.