Debates of February 3, 2006 (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it was about a year ago in this House that I was arguing very strenuously about the closure of the remand unit in Hay River. One of the premises of my argument, just one of them, was the fact that I didn’t feel that the $400,000 projected savings was actually going to materialize. Subsequent to that, I did ask the Minister of Justice, Minister Bell, if he would monitor the costs of providing the remand services under the new regime so that we could compare it to the historic costs for remand. Over the course of the year, he would do that. Does the Minister have any updated information for me with respect to that comparison? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Bell.

Return To Question 336-15(4): Current Versus Historical Cost Of Remand Services In Hay River

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are monitoring the costs both internal and our departmental savings. As the Member knows, we took $400,000 out of the budget, but we are looking at what our actual costs to deliver programs and services in that area will be and see what the true savings are. The other aspect that we are monitoring is the cost of the RCMP. Of course, their budget did not go up but, anecdotally, we wanted to know from them whether or not this was an additional workload, whether it was taking them away from other duties. So by year end I will have an analysis of that done. I would also suggest that our intent was to save money. It was a cost-saving exercise. I wanted to ensure that that is, in fact, what was happening. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 336-15(4): Current Versus Historical Cost Of Remand Services In Hay River

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will certainly look forward to that report and the folks in Hay River mostly affected by it. Five positions were going to be by attrition. I understand that only one of those positions has actually been vacated. But the folks who were most affected by this were the casual staff who were called in on a frequent basis to monitor the remand unit. I understand that a number of them are still in Hay River. They would be very interested in hearing the response. When the report comes out and it proves that there were no $400,000 cost savings, what measure will the Minister take in that regard? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 336-15(4): Current Versus Historical Cost Of Remand Services In Hay River

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a hypothetical question at this point. I am prepared to consider that information when I get it. I would also propose that I would like to see the facility, have a tour of the facility, get a better sense of how the remand services were delivered and take a look at options. I know we have improved surveillance in the facility now and installed some new cameras. I think that goes a long way toward dealing with some of the safety concerns that we had and were raised by the chief coroner. There are a number of things that I can look at, but I still want to analyze the cost savings. Again, it was a cost-savings initiative. We will see where we are by the end of March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.