Louis Sebert

I would like to bring witnesses in.

Yes, I think we are or have been consulting with the department and also will be consulting with the Bar Association about the new resource centre. Thank you.

Yes, I understand that the plan is that it will be completed in 2018-2019. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that the total cost for the courthouse common lobby retrofit would be $402,000, so the funds for the new resource centre would be included in that amount.

Yes, the requirement for the building is obvious for anybody that's been in Fort Smith. The current women's facility was, I think, built in the 1960s, so I think that the examination as to whether it was needed was done some time ago even before the Auditor General's report. Thank you.

I would expect that competent employees will be driving these two trucks. Thank you.

Yes, I do. Willard Hagen, deputy minister of Lands, and Brenda Hilderman, director of finance and administration.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I did have the opportunity some months ago to go on a visit to the facility. I had been there many times in my former capacity as a defence lawyer. I do not speak to, and I don't think it would be appropriate for me to speak to the individual workers there with respect to this incident.

Mr. Speaker, I don't believe the meeting will be public because we will be discussing certain confidential information that would not be appropriate to share with the public. There are, however, many of the issues around this incident that are already known. I can advise this House that the report, which was quite comprehensive, found that the escapee acted alone, he exploited a gap in the physical security of the building to access the roof of the building; the number of correctional officers on site at the point of escape was appropriate, and proper procedures were being followed at the time...

Mr. Speaker, Addendum: Dissenting Opinion of the Honourable Louis Sebert, Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency, MLA for Thebacha.

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures was tasked by Motion 718(1), passed by unanimous consent of the House on December 18, 2015, to recommend a process, including terms-of-reference, for a midterm review and report back to the House during the Fall 2016 sitting. The standing committee has not been able to come to unanimous agreement on a report, with Minister Sebert being the sole dissenter. The Clerks have advised Minister Sebert...