Mr. Chairman, I wish to present the budget of the Department of Justice, for consideration of the committee. Following are some of the points which, I believe, will be of particular interest to Members in reviewing the Department of Justice budget.

The department has been engaged in a thorough examination of its activities. Care has been taken to reduce in areas which will not have a significant impact on justice services to the public. Any budget reductions are made in the context of growing demands placed on the justice system. Although we are operating in a climate of fiscal restraint, it must not effect the development of vision for the future, for a justice system that will better serve the people of the territories.

In the directorate, we have targeted three areas of reduction as part of the government wide budget reduction exercise. The Aboriginal Court Challenges Program has been reduced. Considering requests for funding in the past, it is anticipated that the amount remaining in the budget is still sufficient to assist individuals, and organizations, with litigation to define and protect aboriginal rights.

The Northwest Territories law reform committee has not operated, as such, for several years, and we will not be reactivating the committee. The Law Reform function will be carried out internally, and by contract, on a scaled down basis. The elimination of the committee has allowed a reduction to that budget, for this fiscal year, with a further reduction plan for the next year.

We plan to close the Baffin Regional Directorate Office. This position was previously staffed with a lawyer. It is felt that improved services can be provided, within the region, by lawyers working with individual departments.

This year, we are pleased to receive the Report of the Special Advisor on Gender Equality. The report identifies a number of changes that can be made through the administration of justice to make the justice system more responsive to the needs of women. The report reminds us that the government has a particular responsibility to those who are victims of violence, instead of focusing solely on offenders. The victims, who must go through the often traumatic experience of testifying in court, have few or no resources available to them, to assist them. Victims' money will continue to be directed towards making opportunities available for community workers. I am determined to assist communities in the development of victims' services that are appropriate for each community.

I agree with the Standing Committee on Finance, that we should have no tolerance for violence. Violence, particularly violence against women and children, has been addressed in some detail in the Report of the Special Advisor on Gender Equality, and that report provides us with many helpful directions for approaching this problem.

Police services. After arduous negotiations, a 20 year policing agreement has been signed with the federal government. As I believe was mentioned in the Legislative Assembly, by my predecessor, we managed to retain the existing cost sharing ratios, our share being 70 percent. No funding has been identified in this document to cover inflation, or costs associated with the new contract for the R.C.M.P. They have been encouraged to hold the line as much as possible.

As a result of funding freezes, due to restraint at both the federal and territorial levels, of the last several years, G Division has had their own budget erode to the point where they can no longer sustain operations with their approved establishment of 225 members. This has resulted in the force not being able to fill various vacant positions. Recently, the R.C.M.P. informed us that they will be going ahead with staffing of the detachments in Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour, who are just waiting to hear from them as to when the staffing will take place.

The Standing Committee on Finance has made a number of interesting recommendations with reference to the R.C.M.P.. By way of not being reflected in the budget, any additional resources for an R.C.M.P. reserve, or volunteer force, the department is working closely with the R.C.M.P. on a range of options to approach communities with. Consistent with the community transfer initiative, we want to have a meaningful dialogue with communities on options, such as training by-law officers to work as part of an R.C.M.P. reserve, training other local volunteers, increasing regular R.C.M.P. strength, or pursuing aboriginal policing pilot projects through federal funding programs. The options would be flexible, and financial implications would be identified, so that choices made are made in the context of each communities overall priorities.

The Legal Aid Program has been under scrutiny from various sources, including the Legislative Assembly, and the Auditor General's office, for some time. As a result of an action plan, which has been developed by the department, the program is being reviewed. We are working closely with the legal services board to reduce costs, and implement recommendations from various reviews of legal aid.

The recommendations are aimed at attempting to improve services, and yet, at the same time, control costs. It is hoped that by 1993-94, over $400,000 can be reduced from the legal aid budget. To date, legal aid expenditures for fees and payments are down approximately 30 percent from this time last year. However, it is too early to draw any conclusions from this situation. The board has decided to hire two staff lawyers to work in the Yellowknife office. This change should result in considerable savings.

We are working with the Legal Services Board, and the Law Society, to establish a new tariff schedule. This, also, is being done with the intent of controlling costs through some sort of blocking and capping of fees.

A new lawyer has just started working in Rankin Inlet. The board is in the process of staffing some of the other clinics, and replacing the executive director. This transitional phase is difficult to get through, but it will no doubt be positive for legal aid in the long run.

Registries and court services. Funding for legal registries has been increased substantially in anticipation of transfer of responsibility for land titles from the federal government. It is expected that the program will raise revenue well in excess of additional expenditures that they will occasion. Negotiations affecting the transfer are under final stages at this time.

In spite of cutbacks in some areas, the cost of operating the courts continues to rise, because of the staffing requirements associated with the appointment of a third resident justice to the Supreme Court Bench. Generally, because of the increased case load faced by the courts, and because of charge back costs of the newly implemented justice information system, we are continuing to explore ways of controlling, and reducing costs within court operations. We are working with the judges to establish a management committee, in an attempt to find more efficient ways of carrying out justice proceedings, through the cooperation of all interested parties.

A review has been conducted into the possibility of closing the Hay River court registry, in an attempt to reduce costs. Following the recommendation of this review, and consistent with the comments made by the Standing Committee on Finance on this matter, the decision has been made to keep the registry open.

The Justice of the Peace administrator continues to offer training seminars to Justices of the Peace across the territories. We are reaching a point, where, with the cooperation of territorial court judges, justices are willing and able to sit in sentencing.

The administrator also continues to conduct discussions with community members, about the roles that communities might assume in the administration of justice. Efforts continue to recruit justices who are representative of their communities, and I would urge Members to encourage respected members of their communities to put their names forward.

As Members are aware, we undertook a project to revise the N.W.T. Statutes and Regulations some time ago. The revision of the legislation is now complete and the revised regulations came into force in July, 1992. We will now be able to eliminate this expenditure from our budget.

Corrections. Although not specifically covered in this budget, Members are aware of the government's intent to transfer correction services division to the Justice department. The transfer of corrections, besides bringing us in line with other jurisdictions across the country, should allow us to better coordinate the development of community justice initiatives across the territories.

We will now have regional resource people available to work with communities, in defining and acting upon their aspirations for more community involvement in the administration of justice.

As communities gradually assume increased responsibility, it is expected that, in the long run, this will slow the growth of the demands placed on the justice system.

Mr. Chairman, in light of these remarks, I invite the Members of this committee to examine, in detail, the 1992-93 budget for the Department of Justice, and I would be pleased to try to answer questions. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Did you want to bring witnesses before us?

Yes.

If the Sergeant-at-Arms could bring the witnesses in. Mr. Minister, for the record, could you introduce your witnesses?

Department of Justice

Mr. Chairman, I have Mike Rudolph, Acting Director of Finance for Justice; also the Deputy Minister of Justice, Geoff Bickert.

Thank you. The chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance, do you care to respond to the Minister's opening remarks?

Just a second, Mr. Todd. Apparently the translation system is not working right now. Okay, Mr. Todd, if you would not mind starting again, I understand that the system is up and running again.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Your motion is in order, but we do not have a quorum at the moment, so I will ask the Clerk to ring the bell, and see if we can get a quorum.

Okay, we have a quorum. Your motion is in order, Mr. Todd. To the motion.