Charles Dent

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m advised that this is within the normal range for this class of office. It’s certainly not anywhere near the cost that you would find for, for instance, the Human Rights Commissioner’s office, which would be outfitted to a much higher standard. So this is just regular office space and that, Madam Chair, is what it’s costing to outfit office space in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps I could ask the Minister of Transportation to answer that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the rationale was that it would allow the new justice a chance to learn from her colleagues, to spend some time working with them and, in other words, having discussions after circuits and becoming more and more conversant with the role that she would be fulfilling. That would allow some time for some of that development to take place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I understand it, the government will take possession of the space on November 1st, as things stand. I can only reiterate that the government did not go and say we want that space. It was proposed by the landlord. The issue of whether or not that’s proper, if the landlord comes forward and says this is what we want to do with our space and the space is suitable for the use, then the government is interested in it. The Legal Services Board had asked that Public Works and Services find space that was storefront, that was accessible, and we were also looking for space...

Thank you, Madam Chair. As I told Ms. Lee, no, I am not aware that the landlord is paying a significant portion of the tenant improvements. If there are any savings, then $115,000 won’t all be spent. It would, instead, remain in the government’s bank account.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have any detail on the negotiations, so perhaps the Minister, if he doesn't have it with him, could commit to get the information to committee members about the details on the negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, I have outlined on many occasions in this House that there is an independent review of human resource practices that has been undertaken by corporate human resources to examine the practices across the Department of Justice. That will be completed within the next couple of weeks and that will identify whether or not there are any systemic problems with human resources in the department, particularly within corrections. If they identify any problems -- and I said if they identify any problems -- then the department will move to address them. At this point, Mr. Speaker, I have no...

Mr. Chairman, in May, at the same time and the same submission that I asked for the O and M money, I asked for the fit-up money. FMB would not accept that submission at that time. They accepted the bodies, but not the cost for fitting up the space and asked that there be further work done with Public Works to make sure that the estimates were in fact accurate. That work was done and then the revised submission went to FMB either late July or the first week in August. I’m not sure exactly what the date was, but it would be in that two-week period. That’s the timetable that I had to work to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am not aware that the landlord has agreed to pick up any of the costs. The Member is right; the $115,000 is an estimate that has been provided by Public Works and Services, based on typical costs that they are finding in doing tenant improvements in other comparable space in Yellowknife. It could be more, it could be less, but we expect it will be fairly close to that dollar figure. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to believe that it’s as good a deal as anybody has gotten, but it would probably be best to ask the Minister responsible, Minister McLeod, to see if he can respond to provide some details of the negotiations.