Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister. I know that a lot of effort was spent on negotiating that new agreement and I am sure that along with these additional expenses there are some improvements in services provided. I don’t know if the Minister has those at hand, but it would be good to know, and I know the public would like to know what additional benefits we are getting, or whether this is just the cost of doing business to maintain the status quo. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I think that would be useful. I am sure that the Minister is aware of the issue. I don’t necessarily see how this would be adding so much to the coroner’s office. It would not be something the coroner’s office would do; the Department of Justice would do it, take the lead for the GNWT as receiving the report and making sure that whatever department was the recipient would provide some sort of response that could be reported to the public and bring transparency that way. Just to the Minister’s perspective of this would be an extension of the coroner’s office and I don’t...

So is that all five of these positions?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand that the wellness court will rely quite heavily on the case management program. I wonder if the Minister will just explain that to me, if I understand that. Thank you.

I know recently I think we signed a new 20-year agreement with the RCMP. Was that a year or two ago, and if so, how is it working out? Are we noticing any changes, any improvements or otherwise?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if the Minister would consider formalizing the process, when the recommendations are to the GNWT institution, that we formalize the record that the Department of Justice follow up on the response so that the public has some clarity on this. I know there is a lot of concern out there that some reports that have come out have just sort of wavered through the haze as they disappear and there is a lot of angst left behind. I would certainly like some clarity, and some transparency would be appreciated and might even serve the public in ways beyond simply clarity and...

Thanks to the Minister for the commitment. The second question is: I understand there’s a legal translator position that will be deactivated. I believe that’s a funded position. I’m wondering what happens to those dollars. Thank you.

Actually, I was on page 27, Madam Chair.

I don’t have any desire to go on about this. I think it’s a very straightforward issue, and it’s been noted annually at budget time for a number of years. I know probably all Members have heard from our non-government organizations and the difficulties they have in meeting forced growth when they’re expected to deliver often essential government services without the resources to maintain their capacity, and at the same time, of course, they see government departments very substantially increasing their budgets for forced growth reasons. I think we need to start recognizing that they live in...

I will leave it at that, I know the Minister is alert to the issue. I will just mention that I did have a colleague do the calculation for adults, and the cost of adults in our system is about $130,000 per person per year, so again a wellness course that is successful for three people would more than pay back, theoretically, the costs that we are proposing to invest, a very modest cost this year. I think the potential is substantially more than that, though I don’t know what is being contemplated for the pilot project, but the opportunities are huge. Just a comment again. Thank you.