RCMP Orientation Program
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. During the business plan review in September, the committee was concerned that some RCMP officers have not been able to integrate well into the community where they have been stationed.
The committee is interested to see progress of the RCMP Orientation Program and will be provided with information on the new RCMP Orientation Program from the Minister of Justice as it becomes available.
Family Law And Legal Aid Files
During the business plan review, the committee had concerns regarding lawyers not taking on family law or legal aid cases in the NWT. In general, there are difficulties in attracting lawyers to the NWT, and attracting lawyers to take on family law matters is of particular concern. The Minister's staff explained that making mediation a prerequisite before using the court system is one alternative to decrease the backlog of family law cases.
Since the business plan review in September, the department has started a pilot Family Law Mediation Program in Yellowknife and Hay River that will run until the end of this fiscal year.
The committee will be provided with information from that pilot project when available.
The committee is also very interested to see possible initiatives to recruit more lawyers to the NWT in the 2007-2010 Business Plans. At this time, Chair, I would like to turn it over to Mr. Pokiak to talk about the wilderness camps.