Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to continue on with the comments. Mr. Brad Enge, a lawyer in private practice from Yellowknife also made a presentation on April 19th expressing his concerns with the bill. He also pointed to the Professional Code of Conduct of the Canadian Bar Association and stated that the conflict of interest would exist regardless of the proposed amendments to the Legal Services Act.
Mr. Enge, like Ms. Peterson, referred to the definition of the law firm which includes legal aid. Furthermore, Mr. Enge made a reference to abundant case law dealing with the obligation of confidentiality, breach of fiduciary obligations and conflict of interest. Mr. Enge suggested two alternative initiatives that Justice could undertake in order to address existing challenges and pressures. One would be to start a recruitment and retention initiative for legal practitioners. The other would be to retain lawyers from neighbouring jurisdictions to avoid conflict when both parties access legal aid. If the bill is approved, he stated that stringent conditions and rules should be implemented internally to ensure that conduct and liability are respected.
In Tuktoyaktuk, Mr. James Pokiak expressed general concerns as a private citizen about fairness when accessing the legal aid system. He referred to the working poor who are just over the set eligible income limit and, therefore, would not qualify for legal aid nor be able to afford to retain legal counsel themselves.
Committee recognizes the challenges that the government and the Department of Justice are facing in terms of providing access to justice and timely legal services to the clients of the Legal Services Board. We believe that the government must take action to address this public interest matter. Committee also considered that the history of backlogs, existing trends and pressures have led to increased reliance on legal services clinics and staff lawyers. If at all possible, committee would prefer that at least one private practice lawyer would be retained in cases where both parties qualify for legal aid in order to avoid any possibility or appearance of conflict of interest. However, it is clear to committee that the private bar in the NWT presently does not have the capacity to address the needs of the legal aid system and that retaining private bar lawyers from other jurisdictions is not fiscally practical or responsible.
Committee also understands the need to address the concerns brought forward by the witnesses. On May 8, 2007, during the clause-by-clause review, the committee discussed these concerns with the Minister and the director of the Legal Services Board, Ms. Lucy Austin. Committee was satisfied with the assurance for protocols both the Minister and Ms. Austin gave. At this time, Mr. Chair, I'd like to hand over the comments to my colleague, Mr. Pokiak. Mahsi.