Agreed.

---Agreed

Line By Line

Directorate

Agreed.

---Agreed

Law Enforcement

Thank you. First of all, because the firearms task is in here, I would like to congratulate the Minister and Mr. Avison for the work they've done in support of the Legislation committee who have just come back from Ottawa. Mr. Avison did an excellent job in support of that committee.

My second point, Mr. Chairman, is that I've been working with the mayor's office about getting a meeting set up. The mayor has been in Rankin Inlet and will be in Iqaluit, but after he's back from Iqaluit we'll definitely set up that meeting that the Minister had kindly committed to attend. I have just one question on this task and it has to do with coroners. I wonder if the Minister could tell me what is in the works for training for coroners, if anything?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that's one area, like a lot of others, where we're beginning to feel the pressures of the declining resources. I'm pleased to tell you that there have been some training initiatives in the course of recent months and we're hoping that we'll be able to continue some efforts towards the training of coroners in the upcoming months. One of the training initiatives that took place recently brought people together from across the Northwest Territories to have the benefit of assistance from people that work in forensic pathology: one of the leading coroners from the province of British Columbia together with one of the lead forensic pathologists who does much of our work, Dr. Graeme Dowling out of Edmonton. Also, a behavioural psychologist who did some work in the area of attempting to assist people who deal with crisis situations which coroners certainly have to come to terms with regularly.

I think that was an excellent training program and we're hopeful that we'll be able to continue with that in the future. In order to do that we have to look at some of the options to make sure that we've rationalized the coroners' system as effectively as we can to make sure that all of the objectives are met. One of the things on the immediate horizon is to meet with the coroner who assists from British Columbia to seek his advice on how we can best deal with that to make sure that continues to meet our training needs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to ask the Minister or the deputy about the workload and the complexity of the work of coroners. Is the workload increasing and is the work becoming more complex?

I do understand the pressure that this Minister and other Ministers are feeling because of finances. I notice that there's not an increase in this task. Historically, the department has brought forward supps. I just want to make sure that there's enough money here, or enough money will be committed if it's necessary, so that the coroners will be able to carry out the work that they do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I understand that and I'm not overly concerned with that as long as there is a commitment from the department to make sure that the coroner's office gets the resources they need to do their job. Also, I think the Minister will agree, the job of a coroner is a difficult one, at times quite unpleasant. I think we have an obligation to do everything we can to support the coroners, especially the coroners who are in the smaller communities. I'm just looking for that commitment from the Minister that if the money is not adequate and funding is not here in the budget, that the department will ensure that the coroner's office will be able to carry out their functions.