David Ramsay

The department supports the various departments in legal advice and preparation, and I wouldn’t see it changing under what the Member is bringing up, so yes, that is what we do, we provide support and advice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are really no additional services. It’s a variety of items that cause the increase to that line item.

Thank you. We will get the Member some information on that, and again, to our knowledge, there is a pretty quick turnaround and it is one of the best turnaround times in the country as far as court services go. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is something that we could look into. Given the nature of the facilities that we operate, the corrections facilities that we operate, the requirement for relief workers is there. That’s something that is real for us.

In terms of reporting it, that’s something I will talk to the officials about and we’ll see if there’s a better way to report that and show that relief worker number. Thank you.

The staff lawyers that we do have, the 15 positions that I spoke of earlier, as they’re doing their job and interacting with the clientele, if they have issues or feel we should be looking at resourcing things in a different manner or doing things differently, they would bring that up to management. It would end up going to the Legal Services Board and we could make some decisions from there through the Legal Services Board. That’s currently how that’s handled and it’s an ongoing process, so as situations arise.

I should also mention that all of the positions that we have are currently fully...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The office of the coroner is a separate entity. If we looked at formalizing, you know, it is the coroner’s reports and instructions to government, and to formalize that in some different fashion would change the role of the coroner’s office and that is a pretty big discussion to be having, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can get that level of detail for the Member. In regard to will and estate planning in the communities, we did hire a new lawyer in August of 2010. We do have a Community Outreach Program at the Department of Justice. We’ve been to all communities in the Northwest Territories with the exception of, I believe, three. In January we were again in Wrigley, Fort Simpson, Gameti and Fort Smith. When this Outreach Program is in the communities, anything that community members want to raise through that program is available to them. That includes will and estate planning for...

Mr. Chairman, we will find out for the Member and the House. Thank you.

Thank you. We can get that detail for the Member, get him a breakdown. I think we even have it by facility as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my left I have Mr. Peter Vician, deputy minister, Industry, Tourism and Investment. To my right, Ms. Nancy Magrum, director, shared services, finance and administration.