Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am good, thank you.

Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. Ms. Bolstad has that information. Thank you.

Ms. Bolstad.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. How many vacancies are currently in the Legal Aid Commission? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. I'm not sure if we have that information. Perhaps the deputy minister can offer some information.

Thank you. Deputy Minister.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I've had this conversation with the Minister before, just about concerns with making sure that NWT residents are able to have the same lawyer all the way through their legal aid needs and the consistency that that provides, and so I appreciate that information. Thank you.

Minister?

I appreciate the comment. It is difficult to staff lawyers. We, I think, have more lawyers per capita in the Northwest Territories than any other jurisdiction in Canada, four times as many as some jurisdictions, I think, per capita, so there is a real demand here for lawyers. What often happens is we get young lawyers coming up and staying a few years and then moving on, and so it does create some turnover. Part of the issue is that, as I understand it, the lawyers who work with the Government of the Northwest Territories are actually paid less than counterparts in other jurisdictions, which is not generally the case for government jobs up here, so there are a few factors that make it difficult to retain people. I'll just leave it at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions or comments under legal aid services? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the big gaps in this area is that there are a lot of lawyers, but they are all in Yellowknife. It's really hard, once you get outside of Yellowknife, to get access to Justice. Legal aid largely deals with criminal matters and family matters. I know the Legal Aid Commission runs an outreach legal aid clinic, but it is staffed with one lawyer and one court worker. I know we've had trouble staffing that. I think there's a lot of work to be done in this area. I've worked in legal clinics previously that had dozens of staff and articling students, and they were largely federally funded. The John Howard Society runs them across the country. I think there really is potential in the Northwest Territories to create some sort of legal aid clinic that deals with all of the other issues that the outreach is starting to work on. The question out of that is: I believe there is a federal access to justice services agreement that funds quite a bit of our legal aid. Can I just get a clarification on how much federal money we get in this area?

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Yes. I will hand it off, but I'll just first say that there is federal money. I've been on calls with other federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers, and everyone always asks for more money. There is that lobbying going on, with an understanding that it is expensive. Access to Justice is expensive. In the Northwest Territories, we have probably the most generous legal aid system in Canada, which means it's even more expensive up here. We spend much more proportionately to what we receive from the federal government compared to other jurisdictions. I'd like to hand it to Ms. Bolstad. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Bolstad.