Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just going to comment in a couple of small areas. There won't be really much of a question as opposed to just some observations. The first one I will speak in the area of law enforcement. I will say, from an MLA point of view who has to work here not just for Yellowknife Centre but work with his colleagues, I know my colleague Calvin Pokiak has worked very hard on seeing the realization of an RCMP station and members posted in the Sachs Harbour area. I just want to pat the government on the back. That being said, with that significant accomplishment, I say tongue in cheek of course, someday there will be a chicken in every pot kind of thing. Maybe every community will have representation from the RCMP forces in their detachment. Someday our territorial government will have to reach a point of saying that those types of services are more along the lines of a need and a must as opposed to a hypothetical some day. I look forward to that transition to us moving forward to that type of policy that every community has some type of policing service they can lean on regardless of the fact that they may be only a 30 minute flight away. Sometimes it takes a two hour flight to get there to make it a 30 minute flight. By the time an emergency happens, I don't want to say it has been gone and past. It could also have been a lot worse. Someday. Kudos to the Minister moving forward on that initiative.
The other area I wish to draw attention to and applaud the department for their work on is the legal aid services. This should be no surprise to the Minister, the deputy and everybody else in the Department of Justice. When I came to the Assembly three and a half years ago, I remember people telling me that it has all been said before. It has all been done before. Just calm down. Nothing is going to change. People in the law profession even told me that they, of course, we have all worked on files. It is just the way it is. The department continues to make strides. It is very easy for us here to critique and criticize. Sometimes, I often say, we are not here to judge
but just be judgmental. The department, as well, needs to get a pat on the back when they make strides forward. My issue here is, when I first started on this, getting more lawyers or a new office was, of course, everyone said would never happen. They have made that happen so that there is a new office. It has been running for a few years, as we all know. But the next stride was they said that they would never pay lawyers more. It is not just about paying lawyers more; it is about paying them what they are worth. If we can't attract people in the private area to pick up these files, who is going to do the work? It falls back on the public servants who are lawyers in our shops. They can't keep up with the workload. I know it sounds strange to be complimenting them for paying lawyers more money. Typically, the general public thinks that is a wrong step to go, but the fact is, access to law is a very critical thing that defines your democracy. Justice is a pillar of our democracy, so it is an important value that we always have to make sure that it gets the supports and emphasis it needs. If we are able to attract more lawyers to do these files, that will help families that are in crisis sort of get through those dirty days, as some may describe it. I, like many other MLAs here, have heard from families where all they are trying to do is get a simple maintenance enforcement order, trying to continue with their divorce, trying to get access to their children, or trying to get court orders to protect themselves. It doesn't sound like much when you are in a family that is, if I may say, relatively stable, but when you are not in one of those stable environments, it is everything to you. If we are able to help propel a safe environment or home by getting access to the legal process for these people, we may sometimes be avoiding situations that never should have been. I say to the government's Department of Justice specifically that I am happy to see that they are bringing forward an adjustment in legal tariffs. Again, it is a challenge that I see that we are meeting because, like I said, when I first came here and was championing some of these issues, many people laughed on my side of the House and they heckled on the other side of the House and thought it was foolishness, but here it is yet again. The government is responding to change and they are responding in a positive way. I think it will affect many people's lives in a good way. I have no questions, Mr. Chair. It is easy to criticize, but we also have to compliment them when they do a good job. Thank you.