This is a reply to a question asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell on February 25, 1992. I will be happy to share the report of the family law review with Members when I receive it. The family law review working group has not yet reported, through progress has been made since I last addressed this issue.
There have been a number of factors which have contributed to delay in reporting. When the original contractor did not finish the work as expected, the working group met a year ago and decided to complete the work by having individual members of the working group assume responsibility for writing portions of the material. All reports on issues have been submitted. This represents the completion of the bulk of the work, and that was the stage which the project was at when I responded to questions in November.
Since then, the chairperson, who is currently with the Department of Social Services, has reviewed the material and has completed a draft of recommendations. The recommendations have to be properly edited before they can be distributed to members of the working group for comments and revision. We expected that this would have been done by now, but I am advised that conflicting job-related obligations have prevented the completion of this material. I understand that a full three weeks of work is still required before the recommendations can be distributed for review by the other working group members.
Because of my concern with this delay, I have requested and received a confirmation from the Department of Social Services
that the chairperson will be freed of other responsibilities for a period of time sufficient to complete a draft of recommendations which can be distributed to working group members. Given that commitment, I can outline for you a revised timetable. It is estimated that the work on the first draft of recommendations to be distributed to working group members will be completed by the end of April. It will be distributed to members with a request to respond by the end of May.
As significant work may be involved for the working group in reaching agreement on the recommendations, it is estimated that one month should be set aside for redrafting the report and distributing it to the members for final review. Final revisions should be accomplished and the report made to myself and the Minister of Social Services by the end of July. The Minister of Social Services and I have instructed our officials to do everything possible to facilitate the completion of the project within this time frame.