Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So how many total lawyers are employed by the Department of Justice? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand the number, including legal division, legal aid, the rest of the government, and land legislation division, is about 40. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So three P1 lawyers out of 40 is the complement. What steps is the department taking to increase this number, if any? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Sebert.
Thank you. I know we are encouraging Aboriginal lawyers, but perhaps Mr. Goldney can fill us in. Perhaps some of his personal experience might assist. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Deputy Minister Goldney.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The department does take the Affirmative Action very seriously and does recognize that we do have a dearth of Aboriginal lawyers. Part of that is the reality that we don't have as many Aboriginal lawyers as we would prefer and not enough Aboriginal law students as we might prefer. Certainly, we do apply the Affirmative Action Policy when we are hiring and encourage Aboriginal candidates, where we know of them, to take opportunities to join our public service.
I can certainly say that my experience within the department has been one where it has been welcoming, and I have had, as an Aboriginal person, the benefit of development opportunities being provided as a result of the work that this department does. That is certainly a tradition we want to encourage and continue on. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Goldney. Minister Sebert.
Perhaps I could address the overall issue of Aboriginal and affirmative action within the department. I see from the statistics supplied to me that, as at December 31st, 28.5 per cent of our employees are Aboriginal, 18.6 are Indigenous nonAboriginal, and the balance are neither Aboriginal nor nonAboriginal residents. That is the overall department. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you to the deputy minister and the Minister for that information. I was going to give the department a hard time, but I know that all the northern Aboriginal lawyers who have come to the department that I know of personally have had good experiences and the department has been welcoming and encouraging.
So I guess, as Mr. Goldney pointed out, the issue is getting those potential employees in contact with the government or getting them into law school in the first place. I know, when I was in law school, there was a program and the U of A Faculty of Law accepted 12 Indigenous law students. The person who was sort of running that program left that year, and then the next year they accepted two.
So there are these programs that law schools can use to encourage students to get into law school and become lawyers. Is the department doing anything to reach out to these schools to say that, you know, we would like to work with you. We would like to get more Northerners into law school, either outreach to the schools or bringing those schools to work with the high school students or something like that?
This is another issue I have discussed before, is just reaching out to students themselves. I mean, when I was in law school, I never heard anything from the government, and I brought this up for different departments, as well, that the government should be doing more outreach, contacting, sending letters to students saying, you know, we would like to have you back. We see you taking an engineering degree, a law degree, whatever it is. We would like to have you back. Is the department doing anything more proactive like that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Sebert.
Certainly, we agree with the comments. I do know that, perhaps, there are several universities down south that have a long-term history of being particularly accommodating for Aboriginal students. A Member mentioned the University of Alberta. The University of Saskatchewan has had a program for many years that enables students to be fast-tracked into the law school, either their law school or other law schools, but yes, we probably could and should do better. I am willing to work with the Department of Education to provide more of an outreach and, perhaps, an encouragement to students who are either in university now, or finishing high school, to encourage them to go to law school. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, for that answer. It is good to hear that they are willing to work with the Department of Education, as well as reach out. If they need any help, I would be happy to offer my services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Reply to that? Minister Sebert.
Only to add that we do support Law Day, and clearly more needs to be done, particularly to encourage those students who are considering law as a career to follow that path. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Further questions? Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on page 254, under the program category, I see that the Nunavut exchange of services is declining from $2.5 million to $1.1 million, and I am wondering if the Minister can give us a reason for that change? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Deputy Minister Goldney.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That revenue item relates to inmates who are in our facilities on behalf of Nunavut. Certainly, Nunavut is making efforts to reduce that number. They are making changes to their policies and practices, and certainly building capacity within their own facilities, as well. That does reflect in the revenue estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Goldney. Minister Sebert.
I can add to that by saying that the facility in Nunavut was in rather shocking condition, as I understand it, so it was absolutely necessary that they send inmates out. I understand also from the note I have been given that the Government of Nunavut has signed an agreement with Ontario which has provided the means to transfer additional offenders south versus west to the GNWT. I imagine it is an issue of accessibility. It is easier to get from Nunavut -- less expensive, maybe, from Nunavut to facilities in Ontario than it is in Yellowknife. This is likely an amount that will continue to decline. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Ms. Green.
No further questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Recognizing Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at the same page, 254. I see that we collected a whopping $4,000 for access to information and protection of privacy fees. I know this was an issue that was posed in the discussion paper that came from our government recently, but why do we even bother, because I am sure the administrative costs of collecting the money is probably even greater than $4,000. Is this something that the Minister is looking at in terms of updating the act and working towards more open government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are looking at that very issue as part of the ATIPP review. Obviously, it is not a large revenue item. I do not know what legislation says in other jurisdictions. Clearly, you do not want fees to be an impediment to reasonable requests for information. I imagine in past times there was concern that the government might be overwhelmed, or the ATIPP people might be overwhelmed by requests for information that were not terribly serious. Whether that is an issue or not, I do not know. It is an issue, obviously, that we are looking at, because we do not want to have people prevented from accessing ATIPP because of the costs. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not have any further questions, other than I do want to express my thanks to the Minister, and I do hope that the department will seriously look at getting rid of the fees completely, if we are only collecting $4,000, so that we can move forward with a more open and transparent government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister explain what operator licenses the Department of Justice is earning regulatory revenue on? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.
Is the Member talking about the $1,000 item?
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Clarification there, Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.
I am told that it has to do with licenses related to exploratory work under the Oil and Gas Regulations and Operations Act.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suppose that speaks to the state of our oil and gas industry, which is disappointing. I notice that the Witness Expense Assistance Program is no longer accounted for, or it doesn't seem to have any revenues. I am assuming that line item is rolled into another program. Is that correct, or has that source of revenue been eliminated?
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.
-- ability, and therefore costs have been rolled into with PPSA, the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.
Nothing further. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. No further questions? Seeing none. Committee, please turn to page 253. Justice, total department, $123,417. Does this committee agree? Before we proceed on, I'll recognize Mr. Beaulieu.
