Thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The $963,000 is made up of roughly $250,000 for compensation benefits for an additional outreach lawyer for the legal aid clinic, bringing the total outreach lawyer to two. We have $223,000 being added to travel to allow legal aid services to travel throughout the territory at a greater rate. $5,000 from chosen supply is connected to that outreach lawyer position. And $590,000 for contract services related to panel lawyers, which are utilized when there may be a case of conflict within the office and as well to look into recruitment consultants for legal professionals into the legal aid office, along with a small $7,000 chargeback for GST. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am going to go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, I appreciate that detail. What I think we hear from many Members in this House and this Assembly, and past Assemblies going back quite a ways, is the frustration around the lack of a child and youth advocate. We have seen positions lapse in the Office of the Children's Lawyer, and I am just curious if the Minister and his staff are tracking demand for those services and, indeed, demand for services of a -- like, function for the GNWT considering that it's something that we are hearing from our constituents, and I am curious if he's hearing it as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, currently we are doing an evaluation of the Office of the Children's Lawyer, and it's scheduled to be completed in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. I don't have specifics on how far into the process we are. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Would he be willing to share specifics with committee? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The deputy minister can speak to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The bids are being assessed right now to assign the contract, and it might take a little bit more time. My understanding is possibly four months once the contract is signed for the evaluation to be complete. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.
Thank you. I am going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So building on my colleague's questions about the legal aid increase in funding, I don't see any targets or goals in the business plan. But, I mean, I am happy to see that there are increased resources being put into it but I would also like to see some goals or measures of what we're trying to accomplish to know that those increased resources are making a difference. Does the department have any goals in terms of, you know, increased number of clients or increased number of visits or number of communities that it can get to, or have those kinds of targets been set? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the increase in resources are tied to a federal cost share agreement amendment, and I will have the deputy minister speak to some more detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Legal Aid Commission is an independent commission, and they report on their own metrics. They file an annual report every year, which I believe the department tables, and there are metrics in there from the court, on the court workers, on circuit court, on a number of deemed eligible people in the court system who -- in the criminal system who plead guilty and are sentenced without a trial. So there are a bunch of metrics that they keep and provide that publicly every year in their annual report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I can certainly look up that report. Can the Minister tell us, or the deputy minister, beyond metrics are there actually targets established in those reports? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the deputy minister.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am sure they have laudable goals to decrease, you know, people entering in the criminal justice system and reduce recidivism and encourage reintegration and keep people out of the system, but I think they largely track, you know, those involved in the system and it's probably more on the end of the criminal justice system as opposed to the beginning. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, what I am trying to get at here is not -- I know earlier I was talking about sort of the broader outcomes, societal outcomes of these programs, but in this case I think we could certainly just set, like, some measurable targets in terms of what this additional funding is intended to accomplish in terms of, you know, number of visits in communities, number of days that -- if you're able to travel more, how many more days are you able to spend in communities, you know, how many more appointments or, you know, things like that. And so that's what I would be looking to see. But I can go back and review those legal aid reports myself. But just, you know, anytime we increase funding, it's great, but I think it's also good if we have a clear sense in our heads of what we're expecting to get out of it. And just the difference that people will see on the ground. Will they see people coming more often in their communities, will they notice. You know, these are the kind of things that make a difference to people. I will just -- I will leave it there for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Next on my list I have is the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development has recommended that legal aid be provided -- or be expanded to provide services for matters in rental court. And this is already a service that does exist in Nunavut's legal aid structure as well. I note that with the current level of resourcing, it seems doubtful that this budget is prepared to offer those services. So can the Minister confirm if we can expect the rental office to be covered by legal aid anytime soon, because it is an important consideration for our residents. Thank you.
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. As I mentioned, the Legal Aid Commission is an independent commission so they do set what they fund, what are eligible services in their program. It's largely family and criminal, but they do have an outreach lawyer who does assist people in rental decisions and applications. With this legal aid funding increase, there will now be a second outreach lawyer for the one-year term and hopefully that will assist more folks who need help with the services that outreach lawyers cover, including rental advocacy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is good news, of course. But I would imagine that the outreach that's being provided is a set number of hours to clients who attend clinics, but I will allow the witnesses to correct me if I am wrong. This is not representation at rental hearings rather this is advice provided through clinics. Is that accurate? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the past, there have been instances where an outreach lawyer would attend a hearing with someone and advocate or support. They are not assigned a lawyer to take them through the whole process, but that's not to say you can only see that outreach lawyer one time. You do have a time limited appointment. They are not assigned your lawyer, but you can go back more than once. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Range Lake.
So that's a little different than -- thank you, Mr. Chair. That's a little different than what was being recommended by the committee and what happens in other jurisdictions. When it comes to landlords -- and I am talking about the larger and mid-sized landlords who have lawyers on retainer -- they are represented in these hearings by lawyers, and tenants are not, because most of them are not in a position to pay for a lawyer to represent them in these matters. So that's what I am talking about here. And I just want to confirm that that's not going to be happening in this budget or potentially in the future, unless there is a plan to bring that on. But as far as the current policy environment is for legal aid services, can the Ministers confirm that that is not going to be a service provided by the Legal Aid Commission. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is currently not in the plan. But I will pass to the deputy minister to provide some detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's my understanding that the Legal Aid Commission is not opening up assigning lawyers to cases for the rental hearing process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. So if you wanted -- if the government or this Assembly, indeed, wanted to expand legal aid service provision, how would we go about doing that? Because I understand that the commission is arm's length and independent in the services it provides and is overseen by an independent board but, obviously, if we make a political decision to provide that service and appropriate funding for it, the commission logically would have to provide it. But the details would be helpful, I guess, because I am not sure what we're supposed to do here if, indeed, we are making recommendations for something to happen and we're not able to make them because it's an independent body. So just clarification on that point because we want to continue to advocate for residents who are in need of these services, so their legal rights are well represented in matters of hearth and home, which is fundamental to wellness; we all know this. So if the Minister can explain more how we would bring about these services in the Northwest Territories that are currently enjoyed by our sister -- residents of our sister territory of Nunavut. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass to the deputy minister.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the recent review completed by the legislature of the Legal Aid Review Act, the executive director did appear before committee and along with some department officials. This would have been a good time to communicate that, but there's no saying that this can't be communicated now if that is the desire of committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
