I'll pass it to deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister Doolittle.
Madam Chair, yes, there are resources still being purchased in the resource centre which is on the fourth floor, I believe, of the courthouse. It's FOB access to -- and available to the public and to lawyers. As well, there's a move to online resources as well which are available there. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you. And if it's not staffed, who supports the services that are provided? Thank you.
Minister of Justice.
Court services. Thank you.
Member for Great Slave.
Do the staff have training in legal databases and the like? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Yes. Thank you.
Member for Great Slave.
That's all for now. Thank you.
Thank you. No further questions, please turn to page 315.
Justice, court services, operations expenditure summary, 2025-2026 Main Estimates, $18,421,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to legal aid services, beginning on page 317 with information items on page 319. Are there any questions? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I see there's a further reduction in the line for Office of the Children's Lawyer, even more than last year. There's another reduction of about $45,000. Can the Minister explain what the further reduction is about. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. That's a residual reduction from last year. It's just the final amount over the final time period that is being reduced. Thank you.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Is the Minister able to share with us any statistics on the number of children that are being served by the Office of the Children's Lawyer? For example, numbers between -- you know, over the last three years, you know, while there's been reductions in the Office of the Children's Lawyer. Is the Minister able to share with us the number of children that have continued to be served up to 2024-2025? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So I have them broken down by calendar year. So in 2025, there have been eight children. 2024, 38. 2023, 34. 2022, 38. 2021, 31. Thank you.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Okay, thank you, Madam Chair, for those stats. So given the fact that I believe -- according to the last annual report of child and family services, there were at least 106 children in permanent care. Can the Minister clarify whether all children that are going into permanent care have access to the Office of the Children's Lawyer or why -- and I know the Office of the Children's Lawyer is not just for children in care but it might be one major area where the office provides services. Can the Minister clarify why the number of children is relatively low that are being served by the office compared to the number of children that are actually in permanent care? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. I'll hand that to the deputy minister.
Deputy minister Doolittle.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So a youth who is under care of child and family services and require -- who requires legal representation can apply directly themselves to the office for legal assistance. So this implies somebody of more of a mature age and not a toddler, for example. So this is without the need for a court to appoint legal counsel. Child and family services often requests that children and youth that are under the care receive legal advice relating to court procedures. So youth can apply themselves and if not, that can be brought to the attention of the court. But a very, very young -- a baby or a toddler, perhaps, may not be -- counsel may not be sought for them, but that would be in the purview of the court and child and family services or the lawyer representing that family to raise that matter. Thank you, Madam Chair. I apologize (audio).
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So if we're -- I mean, I understand that obviously a baby or a toddler is not going to apply themselves. But if we have a child that's, like, eight or ten years old, are we expecting that child themselves to apply on their own, or is there -- I mean, I understand this goes beyond Department of Justice to department of HSS, but how can legal aid or how can justice ensure that children actually have the support and access to -- meaningfully access the services of the Office of the Children's Lawyer given that we probably aren't going to expect an eight or ten-year-old to apply themselves and take the initiative to apply for a lawyer from this office. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. So the court system itself is actually tasked with that role, and they're the ones who would appoint legal counsel for the children. So we don't expect an eight-year-old to go and go to the legal aid office and take a number and wait in line and meet with a lawyer. The court would actually make that determination. Thank you.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So can the Minister confirm that that's the only way, then, for children to access services of the Office of the Children's Lawyer, is that they have to wait for a judge to appoint that lawyer for them or to recommend the appointment for them? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. No, so youth can also apply directly to -- they can apply directly. They don't have to wait for a judge to order it. Thank you.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do feel like we're going in a bit of circle here. But I'll follow up further offline with the Minister. I do feel like there's still significant misunderstanding about how children can access the services of the Office of the Children's Lawyer because obviously if they're already in court, it feels likes it might be too late to wait for the judge to appoint the lawyer. And if they're expected to apply themselves, that also feels like an unrealistic expectation. So I do look forward to following up afterwards to try to clear this up because I do think it's important that the public and people in general do understand how these services can be accessed and that all of the proper support people within the government and otherwise are able to assist children in doing that if that is what they need. So I'll leave it there. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Justice, do you want to respond to that?
So I'll just say that the court appoints legal counsel in two types of cases. The first is that involve a child protection matter initiated by child and family services, and the second is an access or parenting time dispute between parents. And in both of those instances, there's no obligation on a young child to, you know, try and navigate the justice system on their own. Thank you.
Thank you. I have no further questions, please turn to page 318.
Justice, legal services, operations expenditure summary, 2025-2026 Main Estimates, $8,078,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations, on page 320 with information items on 322. Are there any questions? Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just firstly, I recall -- I'll ask the Minister, has there ever been any of these positions outside of headquarters? I believe at one point there was one in the Beaufort Delta, but I'm not 100 percent sure. Can the Minister confirm.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you. I don't have that information on hand. I apologize to the Member.
Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you. Again, I was just curious and given what's happening -- and I understand that -- you know, the Office of the Oil and Gas Regulator supports the regulator on offshore, and given certainly the activity that's happening right now in the Beaufort Delta with the Inuvialuit and their new gas plant that they're firing up in the next year or so, as well as interest again, likely nationally, on LNG and what's happening, is there any -- given any thought to potentially having an office located outside of the headquarters, preferably, obviously, in the Beaufort Delta where most of the oil and gas is, Madam Chair? Thank you.
Minister of Justice.
