Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. At this time I would like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in any witnesses.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Does committee agree that the Minister can bring in his witnesses?

Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in.

Mr. Lafferty, for the record, could you introduce your witnesses.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. To my left is Karan Shaner, assistant deputy minister of Justice. To my right is Mark Aitken, part of the legislative counsel.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Welcome, witnesses. For the record, there is no committee report on this particular matter because it was referred directly from second reading of bills right to Committee of the Whole. That’s why we’re not doing a report. General comments in regard to Bill 22. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to thank the Minister for bringing this bill forward. It increases the monetary limit in civil cases from $10,000 to $35,000, as the Minister said. In committee this was discussed and it was felt that increasing it from $10,000 to $35,000 would speed up the court process as many people -- I think this is correct, correct me if I’m wrong -- a lot of housing issues that are going to the courts are forced to the Supreme Court because they’re just over $10,000, and this may expedite a number of those situations and allow us to clean up some of the cases outstanding with the Housing Corporation.

I do have a question. I’m curious if the Minister could give us a bit of a rundown on what the limit is

for territorial courts, or I guess provincial courts, in other jurisdictions. How does the $35,000 stand up?

Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. The . Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ontario, and Yukon have a limit of $25,000. Saskatchewan has a limit of $20,000. Manitoba and NWT, our jurisdiction, is $10,000. New Brunswick remains at $6,000 with plans to increase theirs to $30,000. PEI and Quebec respectively have limits of $8,000 and $7,000. So those are just some of the numbers we’ve received from other jurisdictions. Mahsi.

So it appears that with the exception of one that is going to be increased to $30,000, we’re at least $10,000 above any of the other jurisdictions. I’m wondering what was the research behind that. How did we determine or decide that $35,000 in the Northwest Territories is the appropriate amount?

Ms. Shaner.

In determining the amount and deciding to bring this bill forward, was there any assessment done as to the amount of reduced cases being brought to the Supreme Court, but in correlation, the increase in the work demand or workload on the Territorial Court as a result of these changes?

That sounds good and I agree and support that, but in the back of my mind it’s suggesting or screaming to me that it may actually increase the demands on the Territorial Court, because many people don’t file now if it’s above $10,000, between $10,000 and, say, $20,000, just to pick a number, because the amount of paperwork required and the fact that you need a lawyer to take it to the Supreme Court level can get quite expensive and there’s no guarantee that you’re ever going to be successful. Whereas if it’s at the Territorial Court and you don’t need a lawyer to be involved, people might be more willing or apt to take the chance; there’s less to lose.

I’m curious if any assessment was done to that degree, because I think and I feel that there is a chance that we could see a significant increase on our Territorial Court.

I accept the argument or the evidence or the information provided. I mean, it’s easy to correlate that. What was there will likely be there, but now in the new…(inaudible)… But I still worry that there may be an increased demand as more people realize that it’s a territorial process instead of a Supreme Court process.

I guess my caution to the department is even though I do fully support the arguments behind doing this increase, I do fully support this increase and I fully support this bill coming forward, I do caution the department that it may result in an increase in workload and I hope the department is ready for that increase. I hope they have the resources within the department to handle the increased load.

I have a lot of respect for the people in the court system. I have a lot of respect for our GNWT staff who are the clerks and the sheriffs and the administrators. I think they have a hard job and an important job, and I want to make sure that they’re resourced and have the ability to do their job, and I worry about any increased work demand without an offset resource to balance that. I accept that you don’t think that there’s going to be. I accept that you believe it’s probably going to be the same numbers, but in the back of my brain I’m a little worried that if it’s an easier process, it may result in an increase. Just simply a caution and I’ll leave it with that. I do support this bill. Thanks for bringing it forward.

Bill 22, general comments. Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does this Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act streamline evictions?

Minister of Justice.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Those are streamlined in front of the rental officer.

But it still has to go to court, so if he could answer the question, yes or no, does it streamline evictions. Thank you.

Ms. Shaner.