Louis Sebert

Mr. Chair, I would ask to defer this question to Ms. Schofield. She can assist. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I don’t believe we consulted with other governments certainly respecting their libraries. We simply looked at our own cost structure here where there were so few people using it in view of the cost that it simply did not seem to be worthwhile. We only have a certain amount of resources for outreach, and as I mentioned earlier, we are increasing the outreach capabilities of the Legal Services Commission, and it simply comes down to a matter of cost balance against effect. Is the result good enough to justify this $467,000 cost? For the very few members of the public who actually use...

Mr. Speaker, a goodly number. In fact, most of the cases and many other analyses of cases are free online through CanLII or some of the other services that are provided to the public and also for lawyers. I have not received or done an analysis as to what costs we might incur should we be provided library-type services on a limited basis, but certainly there would be still a very, very large saving, in my belief, because the current costs which I referenced yesterday are very high, and if there’s a very small kiosk or something along those lines provided with access through the internet...

Mr. Chair, that certainly would be a possibility. Of course it depends on the evaluation and also the competitive process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, Mr. Chair. The reductions are the court librarian position in Yellowknife, court officer in Inuvik, and... I’m sorry, four court positions in Inuvik, and manager of court registry, also in Inuvik. I understand that the manager’s position in Inuvik has been vacant as well as two of the court officer positions have been vacant for some period of time.

Yes, Mr. Chair, I think there’s a wide range of work, perhaps clean-ups in communities of that type which they have the ability to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, Mr. Chair. Certainly we could come to committee and provide them with information at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Individuals, Mr. Chair, will still have the option of doing their own research online, as I mentioned yesterday when asked about this issue. Only about one per cent of those using the current library are members of the general public, that is to say not lawyers or judges. It doesn’t seem that the public is using this facility very much. I can’t really speak to what’s going on in other jurisdictions, but we simply do not believe that the huge cost that is incurred is worthwhile anymore. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is quite correct. The Public Utilities Board, PUB, did not approve the Northwest Territories Power Corporation’s interim rate application that was to have come into effect on June 1st. NTPC will reapply for an interim rate, the same 4.8 per cent increase when it submits it GRA later this month with an anticipated effective date of August 1st, 2016. We’re not anticipating much loss or any loss of money in a significant amount.

Mr. Chair, the program is going to be evaluated at the end of the year. I believe a contract has been let with an organization that will evaluate the program. I believe we are hoping to get that report back by the ends of the year. Perhaps Ms. Haener can provide more detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.