Louis Sebert
Statements in Debates
Mr. Chair, there is, of course, the domestic violence treatment court, DVTO, which has been up and operating for several years in Yellowknife and, more lately, in Hay River. There are other programs to assist men in these situations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, a lot of this information can be obtained online, or alternatively, often these subscriptions relate to fairly obscure areas of law, and perhaps the practitioners in those areas can pay for their own books as lawyers who are outside of Yellowknife must.
Yes, Mr. Chair. I understand that they are reviewed on an annual basis. Generally there are increases because we have to at least keep up with the cost of living. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, perhaps Ms. Haener could assist in the response. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Perhaps Ms. Haener could assist. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, perhaps I could have Ms. Haener expand on my responses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yes, Mr. Chair, it is mostly related to the subscriptions, which are incredibly expensive, and probably have gone up in price over the years. In fact, I’m sure they’ve gone up in price over the years.
Mr. Chair, we are always looking at the possibility of raising additional revenue. In fact, in the category or the line item, court fees and fines, you can see that is up slightly. In the land title and legal registries fees, there’s a considerable increase. That’s driven by increasing the cost of prospectuses which are filed across the country and also in our jurisdiction. We are always looking at ways to increase revenue. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, although the building is fairly old it’s in excellent condition. I had the opportunity of doing a tour of the facility a couple of months ago. Obviously, there will be a continuing need to have that facility. We’re not envisioning any change; there will always be a need for some facility such as that for youth. That facility seems to be in excellent shape and we’re not contemplating any major changes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, the Law Society of the Northwest Territories and the NWT Law Foundation over the years have contributed towards the financial contribution of the operation of the library. The total amount contributed, however, has fallen. In 2007-08 it was around $120,000 and it’s fallen currently to about $50,000. It would appear that the contributions have fallen even while our costs have risen. As a percentage of the costs, and I don’t have the figures in front of me, obviously the contributions have fallen to be about 11 per cent from probably a much higher percentage in 2007-08. Although there...