Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nunavut has seen some changes, in particular is the role of RCMP and prisoner escorts, but that has been limited to Iqaluit for now. We certainly have been and continue to have discussions with colleagues in our sister territory. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. Testart.
The two new sheriff positions, are they located in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.
Yes, they are in Yellowknife, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.
Nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just one question. There was controversy with the law library because there was a sign-in form that apparently people signed, people didn't sign. You had the numbers of the department, the numbers, they were not the same. Is there going to be some sort of way to track how many people actually use whatever this new iteration of the law library is, so next time we have budget cuts there will be no confusion as to the number of users? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Clearly, the resource centre will be a far smaller operation, therefore far less expensive than the current library. There won't be a librarian there, so I think it will be rather difficult to monitor numbers. In view of the costs, I don't think it is a particular concern. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Simpson.
Nothing further. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. Simpson. Seeing no further questions or comments from committee, please turn to page 265. Justice, court services, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $13,655,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee.
We will now proceed to the next activity, legal services. The activity description is found on page 267. The activity details is on 268. Active positions information item is found on page 269. I will remind committee to specify the page on which your items can be found when asking questions. Does committee have any questions or comments? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I believe this is the section where we would find the closure of the Beaufort Delta Legal Aid Clinic. Is that correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Yes, I believe that's correct. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In an effort to increase access to justice here, I think this would result in a reduction of $102,000. Is that correct, Mr. Chair? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Yes, that's correct as to the amount. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I thought the Minister was actually going to agree to the first part of my question there as well. So maybe he can just tell us a little bit more about why we have to close the Legal Aid clinic in the Beaufort Delta and how that contributes towards improving access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Yes, Mr. Chair, there had been a clinic for some time up in Inuvik and initially there were several lawyers up there, at one point as many as three, I believe. However, it was a different circumstance because there was a resident judge in the community, the Crown attorneys had an office in the community, and there was the Legal Aid office.
As time went by, it became increasingly difficult, in fact near impossible, to staff the office, in particular with criminal lawyers, which was the greatest need. There have not been criminal lawyers up there for I think at least 10 years. So there was a family law lawyer up there whose position was transferred to Yellowknife. So yes, it probably would be better to have clinics in the communities, but the younger lawyers seem to like the bright lights of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So if someone needs Legal Aid service and they're in Inuvik or Tuktoyaktuk, how do they actually get it, then? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Well, with respect to the criminal law cases, the courts, of course, go on circuit and at least in some of the communities I believe the lawyers go in a day or so early. Obviously, it's not ideal, but it is the system we've been using for many, many years. The courts do visit virtually every community, so certainly there couldn't have been community clinics in every community. At least when I was involved, we used to go up to Inuvik a day or so before court started so we could interview people. As I say, not the ideal circumstance, but we simply could not staff the clinic in Inuvik properly. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. So how do we actually improve access to justice for these people? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
I'd like to point out that we do now have an outreach program, which has been developed over the last month or years so that this is somebody who is often going out to the community not at the same time as the court. She tends to deal with many non-criminal matters but that is a way in which we are bringing justice to the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Nothing further from Mr. O'Reilly. Further to this section, this activity? Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does the department maintain court workers in every region? Sorry, let me clarify. In every regional centre where court circuits are held? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
I'm just trying to remember now. There is a resident court worker in Fort Smith. There is a resident court worker in Hay River. There is a resident court worker in Fort Simpson. I think the position has just recently been filled. There are resident court workers in Yellowknife; a resident court worker in Inuvik. There may be one other that I've overlooked. So there are not court workers in every community, but there's certainly at least one court worker, I believe, in every region. Sorry, I was thinking there was one in Norman Wells, but I believe actually there's a court worker in Fort McPherson. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Does the Minister believe that there is a sufficient number of court workers to handle the Legal Aid client caseloads that are currently facing the Commission? Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Yes, I can mainly somewhat speak from my own experience, that when I travelled around the communities the court workers were invaluable to me, and their caseload was heavy but not incredibly heavy. I imagine the greatest pressure might be in Yellowknife, where there is weekly court going on and there would be a heavy load for local court workers to carry. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Nothing further, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. I see nothing further, but I'll give committee a moment. Legal Aid Services. Seeing none, I'll call the page. Justice. To page 268: Justice, Legal Aid Services, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $5,941,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on. Next activity: Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations. It can be found on pages 270 to 272. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm just wondering if the Minister might like to have a conversation with himself about switching this over to the Lands department.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
