Louis Sebert

Mr. Chair, due to the nature of the budgetary process, I didn’t feel as if I could go to them in advance, because that would be an indication of what we were doing in our budget. As I say, somewhat informally over the years I have spoken to other lawyers. I was the treasurer of the Law Society for a couple of years, and in that period of time I could see that we started reducing our contribution to the library. I couldn’t really, in detail, speak to the Law Society about this proposed change in advance of the budget coming out. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, as the House will note there is a review of the ATIPP Act being conducted at this very time and that is one of the matters that is going to be considered.

Mr. Chair, the organization that we have contracted with has undertaken, as I understand it, to deliver the evaluation of the program by the end of fall. Certainly, we wish to have seamless delivery of this program or this type of program on an ongoing basis. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, Mr. Chair. That is correct. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I understand that inmates who avail themselves of this work are on a temporary absence program, and I understand that liability is covered by the act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, the reprogramming of the youth facility will result in considerable savings, and that’s the reason, as I understand it, for the reduction. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, in view of the very little usage by the general public, it seems that the public isn’t that interested in using this resource either. To be fair also, that unlike other libraries that resource is only open for a fairly limited time, but even during the hours of operation, I think only about one per cent of the people using it were members of the general public. As I say, these types of resources, legal research can be done online cheaply and often at no cost. That’s how envision legal education in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I would.

Mr. Chair, we would certainly hope that there would be no gaps, that there would be a seamless transition if I could put it that way. It does depend somewhat on the evaluation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, the $50,000 was going to be the money we would save immediately or this year, but perhaps Ms. Schofield can assist. Thank you, Mr. Chair.