As you know, Ms. Findlay, the Government of Canada has a special responsibility with respect to justice in the territories. Again, as part of that, the coordination and the facilitation of trials, the calling of witnesses, and the facilitation of getting witnesses before the court is a big challenge.
I hear this in my discussions with my territorial counterparts in terms of all aspects of the judicial system, whether they're judicial hearings.... There are great travel costs, for instance, in terms of moving judges and court officials and for coordinating witnesses. It seems to me that we have a responsibility, in terms of facilitating the administration of justice, to be sensitive to that and to recognize the particular challenges that exist within our territories. It's important for the administration of justice that justice be available in a way that facilitates the fair hearing of a case. This is what takes place.
Inevitably it costs more money than if you're talking about a court appearance here in downtown Ottawa. That being said, it's important that we do that. So when I see requests from the Courts Administration Service with respect to costs for court reporting, transcripts, and translation services, I'm very empathetic to that, because I know this is an important aspect of that.
With respect to the supplementary estimates, there are the four courts I've identified. But of course the issue is much greater than that, because this, too, is part of facilitating justice across this country. Again, we have a particular responsibility with respect to the territories, so we take that very seriously.
What you have before you here is a very reasonable and, in my opinion, modest request for additional sums under the supplementary estimates (B). I hope it will get the support of this committee.