Budget cuts hit Inuvik's legal aid office, court registry

The N.W.T. budget tabled Wednesday proposes shutting Inuvik's legal aid office and cutting two staff positions at Inuvik's court registry.

According to the Justice Department, the territory wants to eliminate or reassign a total of four jobs based in the Inuvik courthouse.

The 2016-2017 budget hopes to find $68 million in savings and revenues. Prior to the budget announcement the territorial government said 58 staff positions would either be laid off or reassigned. MLAs still need to debate and vote on the budget before it's approved.

The budget proposes closing the town's legal aid office, which specializes in family law, and moving the sole lawyer position from Inuvik to Yellowknife. The office's administrative worker position would be eliminated.

"Clients in the Inuvik region were already being served by the Yellowknife clinic," said the justice department's legal director Brad Patzer.

"Having one lawyer in Inuvik was handy for one person— one side of the family law file. And of course if there's another party to be represented they would have been represented by a lawyer out of Yellowknife," Patzer said.

The town's court registry will become a service window that will be managed by one person.

"What will remain in Inuvik is a position to handle the requests of the folks that visit the service counter."

Of the two staff affected by the cuts at the court registry, the department said one will be laid off and the other will be transferred to Yellowknife. The territorial government is also saving money by not filling some vacant positions.

The justice department couldn't say how much money it would save from these staff changes.