Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Perhaps the deputy minister could assist. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We expect the program to continue and to be ongoing. The lack of the amount there on the page is due to the fact that we're kind of in a transition period right now. We had negotiated an agreement with the federal government, it came to an end. We're currently in the process of renegotiating that agreement to obtain similar funding for future years. In terms of what this program covers, it's the victims of crime emergency fund. We had that agreement in place for a five-year period and it obviously was intended to enhance Victim Services here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Haener. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, could the Minister confirm that the Victim Services program is still in place but this segment of it isn't? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair, I'm told that it's in the community justice budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's everything.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Do I have any further comments on the information item on page 288 and 289? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess this is the section where the contributions of the Law Society and the NWT Law Foundation are shown towards the court library over the years. There was a commentary piece on CBC by a local lawyer that talked about how there was a 2012 special committee of the Law Society that was set up to make recommendations on the court library and they came up with a number of recommendations to actually reduce the costs of the library but it doesn't appear that any of those were actually implemented. I'm just wondering if anybody from the department can talk about what happened with that special committee and why none of the recommendations were followed up. Thanks, Mr. Chair. At least in the opinion of this individual. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Mr. Chair, I know that there were efforts over time to reduce the costs, but in 2012-13 the Department of Justice in cooperation with the Law Society, as was mentioned by the Member, and the Law Library committee performed two comprehensive surveys of members of the bar to identify subscriptions that could be cancelled, so some were cancelled. Expenditures did drop in 2013-14 but then they jumped again by $47,000 in 2014 and $75,000 in 2015-16. The acquisition costs, and mainly here we're talking about subscriptions to services, continue to increase at a rate that bear no connection with the CPI. And I was reading somewhere I think that last year we sent $350,000 to major publishers in the GTA, the Greater Toronto Area, so there were efforts to keep costs under control. They obviously were not as successful as we would have hoped and costs continued to escalate far beyond the rate of inflation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr Chair. Could the Minister undertake to provide a copy of this report from the Special Committee of the Law Society that I think it was submitted in 2013, and then if there was a departmental response to the recommendations, could he also provide that to the appropriate standing committee? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
I'm not certain that we could share that very easily. I think we would need the consent of the Law Society perhaps and the judiciary also. We could approach them, but I'm not certain what their response could be. So there's parties beyond us that would have to agree to release the report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So would the Minister commit to see if that might be possible? Then I promise I'll leave him alone about this for a little while, not too long but a little while. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister
Certainly, Mr. Chair, I could commit to doing that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Nothing further from Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Green.
Speaking of the law library...
---Laughter
Just kidding. Mr. Chair, my question is about the community justice fund. I see on page 264, which I recognize is a page we already covered, that the estimate for community justice went down by $200,000. Is that $200,000 reduction a result of the loss of funding through this framework for enhancing victims services in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Mr. Chair, I am given to understand that it is not. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm still trying to figure out what this program does and how the loss of it has an impact on the people at the NWT. Maybe that's the question I need to ask. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair, the deputy minister can explain for what the fund is or the reason for the fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
I understand Ms. Haener will be able to provide an answer. Thank you.
I apologize, I was in a sidebar conversation with the Clerk. Ms. Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The note there references the Victims of Crime Emergency Fund. What that fund did, and we hope will do in the future is, for example, if an individual is the victim of a property crime, a break and enter, and their door is broken in and they need emergency support to repair that door so that they can be safe again, the fund is available to provide supports to cover that off. So it's expenses that a victim would occur in an emergent situation. The victims services providers across the NWT are aware of this fund and support victims in putting forward requests to access the funds. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Haener. Ms. Green.
(off microphone)
Thank you, Ms. Green. Is there any further comments or questions? Seeing no further comments or questions, we can return to the department total on page 259. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's not a question about the court library, so the Minister can breathe a huge sigh of relief. I should have asked this earlier about the office of the regulator of oil and gas operations. Since the staff are government employees, how does the department and the government ensure the independence of this office? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
It is clear, Mr. Chair, that they are at arms-length from the government. I know that there are other models, including models in Saskatchewan, where there is not that separation. So we have agreed to follow a model, rather, that does in our view ensure that separation and therefore their independence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. While it might be clear to the Minister that an arms-length office, can he describe how that happens on a day-to-day basis and so on? Because it's not clear to this Member. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Mr. Chair, perhaps the deputy minister could be of assistance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of the day-to-day operations of the OROGO unit, it's very different from other units within the department. I, as deputy minister, oversee the senior managers within the department. Jamie Fulford who heads up the OROGO unit reports to me for administrative purposes only. Meaning, I approve his leave, I support him in other administrative matters in the unit. Our financial unit supports them in terms of helping them with variances and other expenditure matters, for example.
In terms of the day-to-day operations and the work that's done supporting the regulatory function, they do that on their own. There is reporting through to the regulator, to the Minister as regulator on an ongoing and regular basis. That is done in a separate manner from what would normally be done within the department with other units where there would be discussions, for example, on projects at the senior management table. That is not done with the OROGO unit. I hope that gives some sense of what it means on a day-to-day basis. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Haener. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just want to provide some assurance to the department and the staff that in no way am I questioning the integrity of any of the staff there. I'm just trying to understand how they implement independence. So that's all I've got. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Do you have any further comments or questions? Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was remiss not to ask this under the court services section. I note the funding has not changed significantly for the sheriff services division. I'm wondering if the department can indicate what the long-term plan for that division is in terms of training and additional duties. There has been some talk, I know discussion with the RCMP about the sheriffs taking a broader role in prisoner escorts and court security. Is there any plan on the Department's side to actually move forward on that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
