Supplementary, Mr. Todd.

Would he be prepared to name the new building "Pollard Plaza"?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, the administration of the Legislative Assembly building, the planning for that building, anything that is associated with that building, is the responsibility of the Legislative Assembly through the Speaker and the Management and Services Board, and I will certainly report to them this afternoon at 2:00 o'clock.

Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Point Of Order

Mr. Speaker, I would like to raise a point of order. It was not my question at all to question or challenge your authority in the Chair of this House. However, earlier on I was asking a question to the Minister of Education for clarification. And until I was told to get confirmation whether this court case was being appealed, information was not in this House to be able to determine that the government was going to appeal this. So under that situation, I did want to attempt to got clarification from the Minister.

I will take the point of order, review it and look at the Hansard and report back to the House. Oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I have written a letter to the Minister of Transportation - I am sorry, to the previous Minister, Mr. Wray -- but the problem still exists. It is with regard to the winter access road in Fort Providence. It has been used now continuously by tourists that go there. They camp there, they launch their boats there, and they dump their garbage and their sewage there. At that time, the previous Minister did say that they were going to, I believe, get the Department of Highways to do an occasional check around there. There are no barrels there yet. I would like to ask whether or not the department has looked into the situation and how they propose to address it.

Thank you. Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, I commit the department to putting garbage disposals at the site, and also I will keep the Member informed as to the policing of that particular area. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Justice. I would like the Minister of Justice to know that this does not really deal with any particular case with respect to the Department of Justice providing legal services to government departments and agencies. Can the Minister of Justice advise this House as to what services are ordinarily provided to Arctic College by the legal division of his department with respect to advising on tender procedures? Thank you.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of lawyers in the legal division of the Department of Justice who are basically assigned to various departments of the government. They make themselves available, upon request, to provide legal advice, so there would be a lawyer assigned to Arctic College and the Department of Education, who would work with that department and provide advice on a range of issues including tendering. That is how the system works. Legal services are within the Department of Justice and not within individual departments of the government. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister indicate to this House whether or not the same lawyers who provide advice to the college on tendering and contract matters also advise the college whether their work will hold up in the courts? Do the lawyers provide the same type of services? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, if I understand the Member's question correctly, I think the answer would be no. Litigation and court matters are dealt with by different lawyers in the department who are specialists in court work. So in most circumstances, it would be different lawyers who represent the government when litigation is involved: different lawyers than those who might have been involved in advising the department on a matter that might ultimately lead to litigation. So it would not be the same lawyers in most cases, generally speaking. Thank you.

Thank you. Second

supplementary, Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Minister said that in most cases it would not be the same lawyer, is it possible that the same lawyer can provide legal advice to the departments whether their work can be hold up in court, or whether this legal advice is provided by the same lawyer? Does that possibility exist? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, without a specific factual situation to respond to, it is difficult for me to answer that kind of question, which I think is in the nature of a hypothetical question. I find It difficult to answer the Member's question. I suppose anything is possible, but without reference to a particular case, it is hard for me to advise. I think lawyers in the department work as a team, and there is a collegial relationship there, so I suppose It is possible that litigation lawyers are involved in advice to the departments from time to time. I guess If I had to answer the question, I would say yes, it is possible. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, first of all I want to tell the Minister that I believe it is your responsibility as Speaker to determine whether my question is hypothetical or not. However, Mr. Speaker, I know there are strict guidelines within the legal profession to prevent lawyers from acting in a conflict of interest. Can I request the Minister of Justice to assure this House that the role of the legal division in his Department of Justice does not run contrary to those guidelines? Thank you.