Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our Canadian system of government is made up of three branches of government. These branches are; the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. Each of these branches is equally important. Each branch must be independent of the other to provide the checks and balances our system depends on. Each branch fulfils a critical role in protecting our rights and freedoms. The roles and responsibilities of these three branches of government can only be effectively carried out if they have the basic tools to get the job done. These basic tools include adequate and appropriate facilities in which to function.

For the judiciary, adequate and appropriate facilities mean facilities that are secure, easily accessible to the public, appropriate for the business to be done and visibly independent of the other branches of government. The value of independent or stand alone court facilities has been recognized across Canada as essential to public confidence in the independence of judges. Right now, our courts and judges work in inadequate space in an office building also occupied by the Department of Justice and the Chief Executive Officer of the NWT, the Commissioner. The NWT is the only jurisdiction in Canada and probably North America and the British Commonwealth where the capital city does not have a stand alone courthouse.

Beyond the need to establish publicly the independence of the judiciary, is the simple fact that the current court facilities are woefully inadequate to meet the needs of the judicial process, the legal profession, the court clients and the public. A recent study prepared for the department of Public Works and Services, which I will be tabling later on this afternoon, makes it clear that no amount of renovations is going to deal with the problems. The time has come to seriously look at a new facility.

Mr. Speaker, with all of the other needs that government must meet, some may say that now is not the time to consider a new courthouse. I suggest that now is the time to address this requirement as our legislators are considering the direction and priorities of the new Western Territory. To enable the judicial branch of government to meet the needs of the public we must provide it with the basic tools.

Mr. Speaker, I will be including the requirement for a new courthouse in the Department of Justice Business Plan. The money has not yet been found to finance it, but as the business plan gets reviewed and debated through our budget approval process, I am sure it will receive serious consideration as our scarce resources get allocated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.