Cost of omnibus crime bill to territory unknown

CJCD Mix 100 News

Yellowknife, N.W.T. -  Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley wants to know what the GNWT's plans are for Bill C-10, the federal government's omnibus crime bill.

To date, there has been no report of any kind about what the bill will cost if it passes through the House of Commons, but Bromley is hopeful there could be some answers from the GNWT on the matter.

He put the question to Justice minister Glen Abernethy Feb. 8 at the Legislative Assembly.

"I'm looking to the minister, the minister of justice, to find out what those costs are. When will they be here? When will they bring that [to] committee? Is it ready now?"

Abernethy said his department is working to break down the cost estimates of what will be needed, but there are some benchmarks to work with right now.

"The cost of facilities is certainly an easier cost to come up with. But when it actually comes down to how much it's going to cost for legal aid or how much it is going to cost for court time or even how much it's going to cost in facilities itself... we actually to do an analysis of the actual cases that have gone through the system and  try to find out how the new act is going to affect it."

Abernethy did promise Bromley he would have something ready within the next two months.