Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think this is where the court registries is found. As I understand it, I think it was last year that the court system went to a different way of doing court reporting. I wonder if the Minister can give us an update on how that has worked out. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a question I will perhaps have Mr. Goldney expand on, but yes, we are moving and have been moving to a new system. This is not something that we are breaking new ground on. This is quite common in the South. Ultimately, I think there will be an ongoing requirement, or likely for the near future, for subcontractor court reporters in jury trials. I know in the past, of course, we use them at all levels of court. We are in the process of moving to a different system. This is to really modernize and hopefully make more efficient our current system. Having court reporters, and generally they come from the South, has been very expensive for us.

Again, I think that using court recording technology would reduce our reliance on contracts. I think most of these contracts, if not all of them, were with southern contractors and were incredibly expensive. Many courtrooms in Canada have introduced new court recording technology, and I understand that a successful pilot was completed in two Yellowknife courtrooms and in some circuits late last year. New equipment and software will be rolled out in the future.

Perhaps Mr. Goldney can expand on that. Again, we are not out of step with other jurisdictions in this. I think, to some degree, we are catching up. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Goldney.

Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. With the five minutes I have left, I guess I would like to know how this change is affecting access to justice. I guess my concern is that, if defence counsel has to pay for the generation of transcripts, I wonder whether those are acceptable to the court or not. How is this affecting access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our belief is that it is not detrimentally affecting access to justice. Again, this is a system or type of system that has been used in the South for a long time. My understanding is that there should be no diminution of the access to justice. If there is, we will have to make sure that the system is updated and, as I say, we are rolling this out now. There may be glitches along the way. Hopefully not, but I am confident that there will be no loss of access to justice with this system. I think that is what they found down South, and that is why they have moved to this, quite apart from reasons of cost. Thank you.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell us, then, how this pilot project is going to be evaluated, and is he willing to share that evaluation with the appropriate standing committee? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Goldney.

Thank you, Mr. Goldney. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I think I heard the deputy minister say that there is not going to be a formal written evaluation. If there is no formal written evaluation, how do you decide whether you are going to continue to expand or not? I would like to ask that question. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As this is rolled out, I hopefully will learn from my experiences as we move ahead with this. Again, I am confident that there will be no loss of access to justice.

Yes, it is something new, but while it is new here, it has been tried and true in other jurisdictions. I am confident that there will not be, as I say, a loss of access to justice, because we will be keeping a careful eye on this. Thank you.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. While I appreciate the Minister keeping a careful eye on it, that is not the same as an actual evaluation. I guess I remain to be convinced. Has the department reached out to the Law Society or defence counsel to get their views as to how this is being implemented and whether it is an improvement, or how it is affecting access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you. We do meet with lawyers in the defence bar. I certainly do quite often. I was one until a few years ago, though the system was rolled out after I had taken on new responsibilities. I haven't heard, from the defence lawyers, complaints about this system, and they are not shy. I think they would come to me if they did have concerns. All I can say is that I haven't heard any specific concerns about this system. Thank you.

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

Thanks. I don't have any further questions for the Minister on this issue, but I just want to reiterate my concern. If you don't have any formal way of evaluating whether this is improving services or affecting access to justice, and it is a pilot, how do you decide whether you are going to expand this or not? I don't think that is a good way to proceed, but I will leave it at that. Thanks, Mr. Chair.