Glen Abernethy

I don’t know how much money was spent in the last government, I don’t have that data, but I will certainly get that for the Member. The Member is absolutely right. Since the election of this Assembly, they haven’t had an opportunity to get to meet because they actually fell apart because a number of the members changed their professions. We’ve got that committee back together and they will be meeting soon. They will be pulling together some recommendations and I will be sharing those with my colleagues once I have them.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I didn’t mean to suggest anything. I wouldn’t believe that. I know it’s not true. Absolutely, we will keep the Members posted on the types of individuals who are coming and providing these types of services and the types of skills they bring.

Madam Chair, the position is currently vacant, from what I understand. From my understanding, the RCMP is hoping to utilize that position to help them with other industrial initiative-type things that are happening, like the play in the Sahtu. There is going to be a significant amount of challenges in the Sahtu with all the additional work coming in there. The position is going to be utilized to help address some of the social impacts on the RCMP of major developments.

Sorry. I misunderstood. I thought he was questioning the Department of Justice experiencing a greater workload as a result of having the PUB ultimately report there. This is going to be busy here for the Public Utilities Board. General rate applications have been done before. This isn’t anything new. The budget is set. We are confident that they are professionals and will get the work done like any other general rate application that has occurred.

Once the research is done and we take it to committee to have a discussion, if that is the wish of committee, I would be happy to take it forward. Thank you.

Quite honestly, the vast majority of the knowledge, skills, and ability these people have is on-the-job training. Whether they started in a law firm or whether they started working in a community where they had an opportunity to deal with legal issues, we take people who have the capacity and desire and we train them on the job, to be quite honest.

Madam Chair, it is an RCMP officer located in headquarters providing services to the entire Northwest Territories reporting to the commanding officer or very close to it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I don’t know. I’m happy to get that information for you.

As I’ve indicated, there are a significant number of alternate opinions on this one, so before we implement something, we do have to take it through the public process. We do have to take it through my colleagues on that side of the House to make sure that everybody’s informed and that we make an informed decision. Once that’s done, whether it’s legislation or policy or procedure, we will do as the House directs. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think the court workers are an incredibly important role. I definitely want to see them continue. We will be looking for ways to utilize them more effectively and enhance their role.