Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is something we're trying to do. And one initiative that is also new is bail summary reports. This is a commitment we've made, but it's information to support tracking repeat offenders in our system. And this is new.
A bail summary report will help the courts in making informed bail decisions, so territorial court, JP court. And this is something that we're hoping will improve the consistency of information available to the court when they do make their decisions. It'll be timely, more information that will protect victims, enhance community safety, and promote accountability. So this is something new we're trying, and I think it will benefit folks in the system as well as the public with having better information and data. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Okay, what we'll do now is I will just take a quick recess, and we'll come back in about 15, 20 minutes. Okay, thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
Okay. Welcome back, everybody. We're going to continue on.
Is there any further questions on pages 310 to 312? Are you waving at me? Okay, there we go.
Okay, Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to quickly confirm whether the decrease in the budget for specialized courts, is that a result of amortization as well or something else. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was a reduction of a psychologist position. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you explain what this position was meant to do? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the deputy minister.
I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It was a position with the wellness court and intimate partner violence treatment option Court to support clients in there. We had a very difficult time recruiting into that position. There was several attempts, but now we use contract services to support those clients, as well as there is a psychologist if the emergency arises in SMCC and FSCC. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. YK North Member.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. So the use of contract services, does that end up adding up anywhere close to the full-time position that was previously allocated, or do you have an estimate for how often those contract services are needed? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, the annual cost for the contract services does not add up to the cost of the full-time position. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, no further questions on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Is there any further questions before I move on?
I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Yes, this is regarding our sheriff services, court services. I think it is a good career opportunity maybe for many of our young people that wants to learn more about what this department does. I just want to ask, you know -- like, I am really after -- going after jobs here because, you know, like, I want more jobs to be transferred to Tlicho region.
So sheriff services, I know they're all situated in Yellowknife. I want to ask the Minister if there's any plan in place or like possibly transfer and/or create a sheriff position in Tlicho region. Behchoko has the highest population, and there's over 3,000 in Tlicho region alone. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair, at this time, there's no plan to transfer or create new positions in the sheriff's office. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Well, then, I want to ask the Minister if he -- if they can do -- or put a plan in place for the next fiscal year. I know this 2026-2027 we're talking about, so -- but upcoming fiscal year, if there can be a plan in place, if they can work on it to possibly create a sheriff positions in Tlicho -- Tlicho region and that will serve for Tlicho communities instead of waiting for somebody from Yellowknife. Thank you.
I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the standard practice is to establish sheriff positions in communities where the courts are located. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. Well -- okay, we may not have a courthouse but we do have court services there and we are close, you know -- the judge, everybody, the court parties, they come to Behchoko. So it would be nice if we can have one over there so that will accommodate the court services coming from Yellowknife. I know there -- it's a traveling court services. So there's two probation officers there already so why not add another -- court workers or sheriff -- or sheriff's department to go into the court services. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, similarly to the earlier question regarding the sheriff in Hay River and the position that was moved to Yellowknife, there's a requirement for the sheriff to work in tandem with an additional sheriff so -- and the other piece would -- there would be a requirement to look at the potential workload within the community to determine if that was something that was viable. But I will pass to the deputy minister for additional comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Another factor in this consideration is the changes in the court circuit, so that's the purview of the judiciary. That's -- involves their independence of the court. So those have changed, so the needs for sheriffs have also changed with them. As well as they travel -- they're the security for the judiciary, so they travel with them. They have to leave from the exit point into the community back in the courts, the courthouse in Yellowknife. They are security for the courthouse and the judiciary, so that is why they travel directly with them and have to leave from Yellowknife to the circuit community. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. I was going to ask the Minister what is the requirement but -- you know, in Tlicho region, we do have court on the court date. It's usually full. The dockets are usually full with a lot of our young people. And so that's why I am asking about that. And then we do see sheriffs come to our community alone without court, without court parties, to confiscate or to take, you know, like, vehicles or to evict. So they do more than court services. That's why I am asking that if -- it would be nice if we can get a sheriff office in Behchoko or Tlicho region to accommodate the people. And it's a good career opportunity for our young people. For that reason, that's why I am asking that maybe work around it to create -- have a sheriff's office situated in our community.
Another thing I want to ask the Minister is that is -- maybe what they can do is establish a satellite court registry in Behchoko. Can they do that? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I am going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the director.
I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The court services are currently operating remote appearances through all communities in the Northwest Territories, 20 communities in the Northwest Territories, through the local RCMP detachments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. Okay. Yes, that's it for now.
Okay. I am going to continue on now. I am going to go to page 311.
Justice, court services, $16,624,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to legal aid services, beginning at page 313, with information items on page 315. Are there any questions?
Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the program detail, each of the line items, save except for the Office of the Children's Lawyer, which remains static, in the 2025-2026 Main Estimates to the revised estimates, all of the totals go up, some slightly, some not fairly -- fairly significantly, and then again for these main estimates they have dropped back down. And I guess I am just looking to understand the general budgeting approach that the department takes here considering that it seems like the need for all of these line items is higher and the budget is, again, lower. So just looking for some clarity on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I am going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the director.
Okay. I will pass it on to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The supplementary appropriation in year was higher as a result of the amendment of the access to justice agreement with the federal government. That was then adjusted for this year to 963. And I can get into further detail of that breakdown if the Member likes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will always enjoy more detail. Thank you.
