Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do know that those numbers, the lag time between the filing of an application and the hearing date has been continuously dropping, and indeed, I believe as of February 2020, it was roughly at five to seven weeks, which is an improvement over the last few years, certainly. Some of the initiatives that were undertaken in order to get there were around the fact that they do not need to conduct in-person hearings, and that certainly made it a lot faster. There has also been an attempt to increase the staffing, although I don't know that we are quite yet at two rental...

I am not a risk analyst, and I'm not going to pretend to provide to the House or to the people who are on that highway my own personal views on what is or isn't a risk or how much of a risk it is, but I do acknowledge the point that's being made that there are people on that highway. It's a stretch of highway that, while frequently travelled, still has lots of parts where there are risks in terms of it being a highway. There can be an accident, and then there is maybe no one there coming along who has a phone or a satellite phone. I certainly acknowledge that that's a reality and that there...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Right now, that legislation, I was just going back to double check where it might be landing in terms of on our legislative worksheets. Certainly, there were recent amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act just last year, so it likely isn't going to be high in terms of a further review. That said, certainly in terms of the commercial tenancies and the residential tenancies, both of those pieces of legislation have been called to task, if you will, for their lack of modernity during COVID-19. I am certainly now aware of that. I was aware of it before, but I am more...

I can certainly say that the Department of Human Resources will be looking at all of the programs that rolled out, looking at the way in which we supported our employees and looking at the returning to work plans that we have. Frankly, it's beyond simply looking at students, but looking at the way in which Human Resources was responding to the pandemic. We will undertake that project in order to be even better prepared for whatever emergencies we may face going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry. I think a lot of the services that are provided can be performed online, but there certainly still are requirements about the document passing back and forth, that are still requiring the papers to be filed. We have worked out a system where you can drop something off in a drop box, but that certainly is far from being an online system. Again, that is sort of outside the scope of what I can speak to in terms of our budget right now. It's not in the budget, for what that is worth, but as far as having a conversation, again, that might be one of the post-COVID-19...

I know it's not popular, but I can't make that commitment right now. I can't make the commitment to hire students specifically. What I can say is that, again, there is the casual pool that I would certainly encourage the students to apply to. There are positions that need to get filled. There are tasks that need to get done, in large part arising from the needs of our COVID-19 response. While that's not exclusive to students, those positions are there, and we would certainly want the students to put their names into that casual pool, if available. At that point, the hiring process undergoes...

While again, Madam Chair, we don't have the specific breakdown, I will certainly get it. I think really what I am being asked is whether or not we are going to look at whether we need to charge the $4 fee. That is not something that I have had a chance to speak to the department about, but I can certainly commit to having a proper conversation with the department and getting back to the Member or to this House about that. Thanks.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, if I could just clarify, it's the total revenue per year. Is that correct?

Madam Chair, I don't disagree with anything that the Member has said. It's just that I can't spend this money. I don't have the ability to spend this money, but obviously the more we say it out in this House about these ideas, the more possibility that one of the community organizations could work with the Department of Justice and put forward a plan to do exactly as the Member has suggested. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, Madam Chair, I do.