R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's one of the things that ECE does. We do have the number of programs that try to connect employers with student so students can actually gain experience while they're in school. We are rolling out career and education counsellors to help connect employers with students and figure out and help students figure out what they need to get to the careers they want. So that's exactly the type of work that we are undertaking at this moment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The exact process that's involved with building a school in a community, I can't say that I am overly familiar with how ECE works with Infrastructure who works with MACA who works with Lands, it's very operational. But whatever we need to do to ensure a successful project, I am committed to doing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 37, an Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have identified this as a priority with the department.

There are court workers in those communities, and I know that they do provide quite a bit of assistance. As MLA, I often send constituents to them, and they do help. I know that we have asked the outreach clinic to make sure they're keeping good records on who's contacting them and about what issues, and I know they have that. I read some of those stats here and so we're doing our best to make a case to get some more positions but I can't promise anything at this point. But I would be as happy as the Member to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, there were 692 people who accessed the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. 46 percent of those people were in Yellowknife and the rest were throughout the territory, and it roughly breaks down to the populations of the specific regions. So the South Slave region had about 15 percent of the people, the Inuvik region about 15 percent, and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 38, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2021, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 36, an Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know when people go to the Member's office, they go there looking for free legal work is what they go looking for and he obliges on a regular basis. So I'm thankful for that, and I know his constituents are.

The Legal Aid Outreach Clinic does provide assistance with some forms, but probably not the variety of forms that the Member's talking about.

I can look further into that. The issue comes down to the fact that that office is stretched pretty thin as it is. Their workload is maxed out so we would really need additional staff in order to do that type of work, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is one legal aid outreach lawyer in the Northwest Territories. There is also one court worker who works in that office. People call the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic for a number of different reasons, most commonly, by far, is for family law questions. So questions, you know, what steps do I take now that I'm separated? What do I need to do to get a divorce? A lot of questions where they just need guidance and where to go. And from there, people can either get a lawyer or take the appropriate steps.

Traditionally, there's been a lot of travel with the Legal Aid...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 39, an Act to Amend the Post-Secondary Education Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.