Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, it is all within the Northwest Territories. I believe that it refers to YCC, South Mackenzie, Baffin, TWCC, River Ridge, Hay River and Iqaluit. It is to cover a base deficit in corrections in permanent salaries, $300,000; casual wages of $600,000; and, other O & M of $100,000. The actual budget of corrections, under which this is going, consists of $17.068 million, which is 86.5 per cent of their budget in custody and supervision; community justice of $1.837 million, which is 9.3 per cent of their budget; and, administration of $825,000, which is 4.2 per cent of their budget.

Mr. Chairman, in the past, the department has been able to cover some of these extra costs from the community justice budget by moving money around inside the department, but with the community justice program becoming a greater focus and becoming much more to the forefront, we can no longer ignore the fact that there is a base deficiency in this

department. That is why we are recommending this amount of money. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Corrections. Mr. Koe.

Will there be a corresponding increase in the O and M budget that we are dealing with now? We haven't dealt with the Department of Justice, but will the numbers that you just mentioned be reflected in the new budget to adjust this base deficiency?

Thank you. The honourable Minister of Finance.

Mr. Chairman, the department is conducting a base review of institutional permanent and casual PY budget requirements. We hope that will be completed by June 30, certainly by the end of July for this fiscal year coming up. Then, we will get a better idea of what is required in the department. We will be able to make either a base adjustment or further supp funding out of our supp reserves to the department. I should point out that the department can't forecast the number of inmates that it will have in a particular year. Sometimes, it is busy and sometimes it is not so busy. We expect some things to go up and down. By the time we get this base deficiency review done, we will be in better shape to make recommendations to FMB, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you. Corrections. Mr. Koe.

The brief definition here is for increased salaries and wages associated with custody and supervision. The Minister's comments indicate that there has been a base deficiency in the budget. Is this increase due to the increase in the number of inmates in the past year or is it strictly because of the base deficiency?

Thank you. Minister of Finance.

Mr. Chairman, this supp request is a result of a deficiency that has been growing over the last couple of years and it has a lot to do with guard to inmate ratios. As the inmate numbers climb, they require extra guards. When a guard is sick and they have to call someone else in, then their overtime rates go up. When they have to cover for other special reasons, then they have to call people back in and they need more casuals, et cetera. It is a problem. We have recognized that it has been a problem for the last couple of years. We are moving this fiscal year to address that problem and we'll be looking at a better plan, hopefully by June 30, on how to address it further next year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Corrections. Mr. Koe.

So this review, is it part of an overall corrections strategy that you're going to have done by June 30, 1994?

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I have been advised in this particular instance that they're conducting a base review of institutional permanent and casual PY budget requirements. I would have to defer to the Minister of Justice to see if this is

part of a larger assessment of the department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Minister of Justice, do you have a point of clarification on this?

Mr. Koe.

Sorry, I didn't hear that.

Mr. Minister, for the benefit of Mr. Koe, the Member for Inuvik, will you state again what you responded to my question? Thank you.

Thank you. I have Mr. Dent on the list. Mr. Dent.

Motion To Extend Hours, Carried

Thank you. Do we have agreement of the committee that we will sit here until we conclude this particular item?

Agreed.

---Agreed