Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is the legislation division working at full capacity currently? There have been comments made previously in this review and in the House on the slow pace of legislation, so I am wondering if we are using this division to the fullest of its ability, as the Minister says it is sufficient at current numbers. Are all of our drafters currently being utilized to the fullness of their capacity? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This issue has come up before in speaking to people in the department about this very issue, whether we had the legislative capacity. Of course, legislation has to be in official languages, and so on. I asked: do we have enough people so that the lack of legislative drafters will be a problem? I am told no. So it is really a question of us getting the work to them. We believe they have the capacity to complete their tasks in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. In the future, if there are any legislative delays, we know where to place our concerns: on the shoulders of the Ministers responsible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.

I could perhaps add to that, just to say that, should we be in that position, if there is such an overwhelming amount of legislation that is being produced by this House, there is also the possibility of contracting additional people. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Further questions? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I believe this is where the rental office is located, in the Department of Justice. There has been some discussion in this House about the backlog of cases there, and it does not look like there is any additional funding for the rental office in next year's budget. In fact, it has actually been declining over time, if you go back to 2015-16. What is the plan to deal with this backlog, if we are not actually going to increase the funding for this function? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is actually in the section services to the public. I wonder if we could hold off the question until we reach that section. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I am happy to wait. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry about that.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Do you have an additional question? Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Further questions? Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wonder, through our mandate, we indicated we are going to develop the legislation to establish an independent Office of the Ombudsman. Can the department provide us an update as to what other departments we are working with, what the status of the work is, exactly what kind of work is going on, and when we can expect to see the proposed legislation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Last year at this point, Mr. Chair, of course, we were working on our mandate, and we made a commitment to develop legislation within two years to establish the independent Office of the Ombudsman. The Department of the Executive actually is developing a legislative proposal for spring, late spring, perhaps early summer 2017. Again, there was a series of issues that had to be determined, the scope of it, whether the Ombudsman could initiate investigations on his own, so those issues are being examined. A legislative proposal will come forward by the early summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, further to what might be being looked at for consideration, what work is the department doing in considering other jurisdictions, in particular, the Yukon model that is seemingly fairly successful?

One of the key aspects of the Yukon model is its ability to conduct its own investigations, but also to be able to work on behalf of other bodies at their request. Is this something that we are going to be considering in our model? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Sebert.

These issues were examined at our retreat last August, and one of the important issues is to determine whether the Ombudsman has the power to initiate investigations. I understand, in the jurisdictions that do have an Ombudsman, the answer to that question is yes. I'm not sure that the Yukon Ombudsman has that power yet; I think they are seeking it. So it would seem that the trend, if I can put it that way, is towards the Ombudsman having that type of power. So when the legislative proposal comes forward, committee -- in fact, this Caucus -- will have to determine whether that's the route we wish to go, but it does seem to be the way things are in all the other jurisdictions that have Ombudsmen, which I think is everywhere except Nunavut and Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon is heading that way, too.

So you will have to wait for the legislative proposal, but it's certainly something that's being very seriously considered, and that will come to the appropriate committee to determine whether that's the route we want to follow. Thank you

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Further to what else is being considered, is the legislation being considered going to be inclusive of any other -- are we giving consideration to rolling in or rolling up other statutory offices within the Northwest Territories into the Ombudsman's office? Thank you, Mr. Chair.