Mahsi. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present a Department of Justice Main Estimates for fiscal year 2008–2009. The Main Estimates propose a departmental Operation and Maintenance budget of $91.976 million and capital

funding of $1.69 million. The Operation and Maintenance budget is an increase of 4 per cent over last year’s Main Estimates. This consists primarily of forced growth costs for courts, policing in communities and a collective agreement. This also takes into account reduction and strategic investment in the department’s operations.

The government is moving to realign spending growth with revenue growth in order to stabilize our fiscal future and reinvest in the priorities of this Assembly. Many Justice areas have very little flexibility for change. Services must be provided under statute or are essential to the delivery of core programs. Our approach in preparing for this proposed budget was to find efficiencies where possible.

Two-thirds of our budget is spent on salaries for staff. As a result, the proposed reduction will result in some job losses. Clearly, when we are talking about our workforce, there are no easy choices to make. The proposed changes respond to the need to live within our means while maintaining the programs and services expected by our clients and the public.

I’d like to briefly outline the work of this department. There are six main key areas of activity.

1) Services to the government. The department

provides a range of legal services to the government. This work is almost always done in-house at a significantly lower cost than contracting private lawyers. Our staff lawyers provide legal advice to all ministers, departments and many public agencies. Legal translators prepare the French version of bills and regulations, as well as public materials for legal consideration. The $8.8 million budget for services to government also includes work such as financial services, improving supports to families in conflict and the policy research required to develop new legislation or improve programs and services.

2) Law enforcement. Just over $29 million has

been budgeted for law enforcement activities contracted to the RCMP. This Assembly has indicated that policing is a priority, especially policing of smaller communities. During the life of this Assembly, new detachments will be opened in three communities. I am proud to announce that the new detachment at Sachs Harbour became operational last week, and we will be providing services to residents who have not had a full-time police presence in 15 years.

Applause.

As a strategic initiative, the Main Estimates include $1 million in additional funding to the

RCMP to help cover the cost of new mandatory back-up policy.

3) Legal aid services. The Legal Aid services

board budget is approximately $5 million. That covers NWT’s share of the cost of operating three legal aid clinics in Yellowknife and Inuvik that provide legal services to NWT residents who cannot afford a lawyer. The board also provides court worker and public legal education programs. The Main Estimates include a reduction in funding for the Court Worker Program. The workload for all regions was assessed; we believe it can be handled more efficiently by moving to the same regional model that has been working well in the Sahtu, the Deh Cho, the Beaufort-Delta, the Gwich’in, and the South Slave regions. Four of the ten positions will be eliminated. The other six core workers will carry an equal workload while serving all NWT communities.

4) Courts. The department provides funding and

administrative support to the NWT courts. The total budget of $1.9 million covers the Justices of the Peace court program, the Territorial Court, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, Court Library and reporters and the Treaty Court Registry. There has been significant forced growth in this area to cover the need for additional court staff in Hay River, Yellowknife and Inuvik, along with an increase in circuit travel to hold court in the communities. As you know, this tradition has been in place since Justice Assistance came into the North, and it’s not common in other parts of Canada.

5) Community Justice and Corrections. The

proposed Main Estimates include reductions in this area. It is one of the few areas of the Justice budget with flexibility.

This government is required to provide adult and young offender facilities for territorial offenders. However, the way we provide them is discretionary. We will continue to provide a full range of programming with greater efficiency by consolidating management in young offender programs. The government is proposing to close the Arctic Tern Young Offender Facility, restructure management in Yellowknife and Fort Smith, eliminate two program delivery officer positions at the North Slave Correctional Centre and eliminate the Community Justice special project fund.

There are no planned reductions to programming offered to offenders. We are committed to providing a wide range of programs that support rehabilitation. We will provide programs and services in the most cost-effective and appropriate way by using our existing staff more effectively. That includes

activities like sex offender treatment and addiction programming and a wilderness camp. In total, $33.8 million has been budgeted for adult and young offender facilities, probation, wilderness camps and costs of programs to support rehabilitation of offenders. This money also funds victim services, crime prevention and diversion programs in communities.

6) Services to the public. The $3.9 million budget

for services to the public includes funding for the Coroner’s Office, the Public Trustee, the Rental Office, Legal Registries, and the Maintenance Enforcement and family violence program.

In addition to these six activity areas, our Infrastructure Acquisition Plan includes $1.69 million in capital costs related to IT projects and minor renovations to facilities. This year the department is projecting an increase of revenue of $1.793 million. This is partly related to the federal Access to Justice Agreement for legal aid, but the majority of it is from renegotiated agreements to house federal offenders in our corrections centres.

Mahsi for the opportunity to provide an overview of the department’s 2008–2009 Main Estimates. I look forward to answering questions the members may have. Mahsi.