Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

The portions of the building are being reconfigured. We do have some ideas for the space that the library is currently in. I'm not certain because we haven't really determined where this resource centre might be located. In the building is there issues of security and so on. But we are certainly looking at possibilities. Again, the building is being reconfigured to some degree. We have ideas for the space on the first floor. Whether the resource centre will be on that floor or perhaps the second floor is yet to be determined. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we're cutting the library to save costs, but this new resource centre's going to cost money as well. Is there any idea of how much this resource centre is going to cost in terms of online subscriptions, in terms of computer hardware, and other equipment that'll be needed for it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

Mr. Chair, I wonder if Ms. Haener might be able to assist on this question. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Haener.

Thank you, Ms. Haener. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, and you know that goes back to the many resources of expended reconfiguring that building and we still have some -- we always seem to be correcting deficiencies. I wonder if the Minister recalls the time when he was a scrappy young lawyer starting his practice in the Northwest Territories. For young practitioners who are coming up to start in perhaps the private bar, availing themselves to free resources certainly is a benefit to their practices. Is that a concern for the department at all? Perhaps the Minister could reflect on the start of his career? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Mr. Chair, I didn't think I'd be asked about ancient times, but when I was starting out I did have my own library and built it over the years and in fact still have it because the books were incredibly expensive and it hurts to throw them out though they have become increasingly out-dated. So in the last few years of my practice, I had one or two books, Criminal Code Watts, one or two others and that was about it. The rest of the research was done online, so I don’t think that is very different from most of the lawyers, younger lawyers, coming out now. I think actually a lot of them wouldn’t even have space for a library because they tend to operate without an office. That simply seems to be the modern model. Yes, there will be some additional costs, but there are always costs in setting up any business, and I don’t see that the costs would be excessive to have a very limited library and then perhaps access online resources. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart's time was expired. Mr. O'Reilly who is on my list.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I just want to start with I'm glad we're talking about the cost of justice here and increasing access to justice. What role does the Minister see the court library playing in public education? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Mr. Chair, in view of the very little usage by the general public, it seems that the public isn't that interested in using this resource either. To be fair also, that unlike other libraries that resource is only open for a fairly limited time, but even during the hours of operation, I think only about one per cent of the people using it were members of the general public. So as I say, these types of resources, legal research can be done online cheaply and often at no cost. So that's how envision legal education in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think I'm going to disagree with the Minister on that, but I wanted to move towards talking about how the department consulted with some of those user groups of the library. In fact, some of those user groups actually contributed towards the cost of the library over a number of years. As I understand the law society contributed $28,000 in 2014-15, 2015-16 it was about $20,000. The Law Foundation contributed $50,000 in 2014-15, 2015-16 the same amount. Can the Minister tell me what consultation was done with the Law Society of the NWT before this decision was taken as they're putting money on the table or they were putting money on the table as part of this? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Mr. Chair, the Law Society of the Northwest Territories and the NWT Law Foundation over the years have contributed towards the financial contribution of the operation of the library. The total amount contributed, however, has fallen. In 2007-08 it was around $120,000 and it's fallen currently to about $50,000. So it would appear that the contributions have fallen even while our costs have risen. So as a percentage of the costs, and I don't have the figures in front of me, obviously the contributions have fallen to be about 11 per cent from probably a much higher percentage in 2007-08. Although there has been a contribution by the Law Society and NWT Law Foundation, those contributions have fallen. This issue came up approximately 10 years ago when the library was reduced. There was some opposition to that reduction. Somewhat informally, I did speak to many of my fellow practitioners and most of them, particularly the younger ones, hardly knew where the library was. When the budget came out, a letter was sent to the law society. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Mr. Chair, I'm glad to hear that a letter was sent to the Law Society when the Main Estimates were tabled. Was there any advance consultation with the Law Society as one of the funding partners for the library? Thanks, Mr. Chair. Oh, and if so, what was that? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Mr. Chair, due to the nature of the budgetary process, I didn't feel as if I could go to them in advance, because that would be an indication of what we were doing in our budget. As I say, somewhat informally over the years I have spoken to other lawyers. I was the treasurer of the Law Society for a couple of years, and in that period of time I could see that we started reducing our contribution to the library. So I couldn't really, in detail, speak to the Law Society about this proposed change in advance of the budget coming out. Thank you, Mr. Chair.