Yes, Mr. Chair, we could of course do that. They already do track files by location. I happened to notice amongst the statistical information provided to me that there was a 30 per cent decline in overall case load handled from Inuvik in fiscal year 201415 to 201516, so, obviously, the source of files can be tracked. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So is that information that the Minister can share with my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Social Development? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, I think we could, obviously, provide statistical information. Obviously, we can't provide the names of clients, of course. Statistical information should be easily obtained and could be provided. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Any further questions, Ms. Green?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Statistical information will be satisfactory. I'm concerned about this change, while noticing that there's been a decline in use, just with reference to our mandate, which says that we will make justice accessible to the residents of the NWT. So I feel like we need to make good on that, and tracking how much demand for services there is an important of part of that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Of course, we do have that in our mandate. And it has been of concern, both to the department and to members of the bar, that it has been extremely difficult to staff these positions outside of Yellowknife in the last number of years. So we do realize that it would be better in some ways to have clinics in various communities outside of Yellowknife, but it has become very expensive, difficult to staff, and that's why we're taking this approach to the clinic. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Ms. Green, your time has expired. Would you like me to put you on the list again? Okay. Thank you. Committee, are there any further questions to page 275? If not, we continue with page 274, legal aid services, operations expenditures summary, total activity, $6,252,000. Are we agreed? Mr. O'Reilly.
Mr. Chair, when I look at page 274, program detail, there are cuts between what was in the mains for 201516 and 201617 for court workers, legal aid commission, and the Yellowknife Legal Aid Clinic. Even the Somba K’e Legal Aid Clinic, there's a small decrease there. So, with this decrease in expenditures for legal aid services, how are we actually improving access to justice, which is in our mandate? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, if I could go through the list in some detail, if we could look first at the Community Legal Aid Clinic, the variance is due to a transfer of a new phone system to TSC, budget and reductions and savings from a new VoiceoverInternetProtocol system, so it's a technical improvement that leads to the saving.
With respect to court workers, the Main Estimates of $1,084,000, the variance is due to the elimination of the court worker position in Fort McPherson, which had not been filled for some time. Legal aid commission, again its improvement, it's technology, it appears; variance is due to reductions in private Bar fees, savings from the new VoiceoverInternetProtocol system and transfer of a new phone system.
Office of the children's lawyer, variance is due to transfer of a new phone system. Somba K’e Legal Aid Clinic, variance is due to a new phone system, again. That would appear to be the case also with the Yellowknife Legal Aid Clinic. It appears, in our view, that there's not really a reduction in service; there's some efficiencies that have led to these reductions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Any further questions, Mr. O'Reilly?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm all for efficiencies. Does the department then have any specific plans on how it is going to monitor access to justice? What specific indicators? Is there going to be satisfaction surveys? I don't know. What are the specific plans of the department to actually monitor and track access to justice and how the department is going to improve on that over the term of this Assembly? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, I know that the Legal Aid Commission does monitor, in the sense of, when there's complaints and everything, that there are complaints about lawyers or service, it does go to the commission. I can advise that, with respect to family law, which was a great concern because several years ago there were very lengthy wait times, up to nine months or a year and I now understand that the wait list for family law clients is around 90 days, so three months. Urgent matters, of course, are assigned to counsel right away. So they do monitor client satisfaction, if I can put it that way, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have no further questions, just a quick comment: that I'm still trying to understand how closing the legal aid clinic in the Beaufort-Delta, closing court registry, and closing the court library actually improves access to justice, but that's more of a statement. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert, would you like to comment?
These changes, Mr. Chair, were only contemplated after very, very complex and comprehensive examination of the clinic library system, and it was thought that our money could simply be used more efficiently in a different way. So these changes were not taken on lightly. I realize there's a good deal of concern about many of these changes, but we thought it was simply the best, moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Committee, any further questions to page 274? Legal Aid Services, operation expenditure summary, total activity, $6,252,000. Are we agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you. That brings us to page 277, office of the regulator of oil and gas operations, operations expenditure summary, total activity $1,869,000. We'll just defer this and go to questions on page 278, office of the regulator of oil and gas operations, active positions, information item. Any questions? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm going to approach this cautiously, because I have the greatest respect for the staff in this office. As I understand it, these folks are all employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Is that correct, Mr. Chair?
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, they are employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Are these indeterminate positions, or are they contract? What's the status of these positions? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that all of the positions are indeterminate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess where I'm going with this is the individual services executive director is a government employee, indeterminate, and does he serve, then, at the pleasure of the Minister? How is that position crafted? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, he doesn't serve at the pleasure of the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is the department looking at other models for how we regulate oil and gas operations? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, no, we're not looking at other models at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's not the answer I guess I was hoping to hear, but I do have a question on the next page. Should I just hold it there? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. If there are no further questions on page 278, we'll -- I see none. We'll move to page 277. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So as I understand it there's no change in staffing for this office, but I see that there's a change in compensation and benefits, a fairly substantial reduction. What's going on here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if I could have you ask the deputy minister to respond to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There was funding for eight positions for the OROGO office. Prior to this unit being transferred to the Department of Justice, Industry, Tourism and Investment took the reduction for those two positions and thus only six are reflected in the information for the Department of Justice. The two positions that were eliminated are an information management officer and a regulatory officer. These positions were allocated to the unit post-devolution but were never filled, and it was determined that, given the low activity, they weren't necessary at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Haener. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just so I understand, when did these reductions take place? Because it's not what I see on page 278 in 2015-16. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Haener.
