Alberta Justice is committed to building a justice system that serves the needs of all Albertans in the most effective and efficient way possible. In order to have and maintain a healthy, progressive justice system, innovation and change need to be our keywords as much as formality and tradition.

We have worked hard to change our justice system for the better, whether it is through the use of technology in our courtrooms, like digital recording or videoconferencing, or through court diversion programs like mediation and first appearance centres. But these kinds of changes are not just limited to in-court improvements - we're also working to improve our legislation.

We have just completed the consultation portion of our Family Law Reform Project, and the results are currently being reviewed and considered in the drafting of new legislation. The goal of this project is to have family law legislation that meets the needs of Albertans in the 21st century. More information on the Family Law Reform Project is on page seven of this issue, and I look forward to providing further updates as we move ahead with the legislative aspect of family law reform.

Innovative changes are also taking place in our criminal courts. As of March 1, 2002, early case resolution is being formally recognized in Alberta provincial courts. The ECR program has been very successful in appropriately resolving cases before trial - saving not only court time, but also the time of thousands of witnesses who may have attended court only to find the case had been resolved at the last minute. An in-depth look at early case resolution is on page five.

Alberta Justice continues to look at other ways to improve the way we do business, and I look forward to letting you know about them. By allowing our justice system to continue to evolve and change, we will create a stronger system that is both responsive and responsible. In the meantime, your feedback is important. Your comments and ideas are welcome. I can be reached at dave.hancock@gov.ab.ca.
 

Sometimes you can fight city hall - or in this case, parliament - and win.

Alberta started pressuring the federal government back in 1997 to establish a national sex offender registry. At the February meeting of Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers of Justice and Solicitors General, Ottawa finally agreed to set up a nation-wide registry to help police with their investigations and protect Canadians.

This goes well beyond previously announced improvements to the Canadian Police Information Centre, or CPIC. The federal government committed to providing police with up-to-date names, addresses and photographs of sex offenders. Most important, they agreed to introduce legislation requiring convicted sex offenders to register with police.

We want a firm timetable for these changes. The provinces have to agree on the rules by which the registry will operate. But, it is a significant step forward.

There is still a lot of work to be done here in Alberta. We are committed to going beyond the protections provided by a national sex offender registry. You will hear more in the coming months about these measures.

Progress was made at the Federal/Provincial/Territorial meeting on other fronts as well. Ottawa agreed to give the provinces more time to get ready for the implementation of the new Youth Criminal Justice Act. The new Act will now come into effect early in 2003. And, the federal government heard our concerns about Internet luring, voyeurism and the age of consent being too low.

The hard work and dedication of staff in Alberta Solicitor General, Alberta Justice, and our stakeholders ensured our arguments could not be ignored. I am proud of what we have accomplished so far. By continuing to work together as a team, there is no limit to what we can achieve in the future.

You are making a difference in the lives of Albertans and Canadians by working towards one of our most important goals - ensuring our communities are safe places to live, work and raise families.
 

In the last issue of Just-in, I indicated that Alberta Justice would soon be embarking upon an organizational review and renewal process. Given increasing service demands and relatively static resources, it is time to step back from our daily operational pressures and conduct a higher-level organizational review to ensure our resources are being most effectively deployed in meeting the department's goals. I am pleased to announce that the planning stage of this exciting initiative is now well underway, with the assistance of Turnkey Management Consulting.

During this phase, the department will:

• review its organizational structure
• review its entire range of programs, services and processes
• identify leading or best practices which we may adopt
• review and renew the policy framework that guides the department
• explore alternative service delivery models
• identify improvements that will optimize the quality of our service delivery
• identify operational efficiencies to allow for reinvestment in priority areas.

A steering committee comprised of all members of Executive Management Committee will oversee the renewal process.

This review will be conducted at both the departmental and divisional levels. Initially, the divisional reviews will focus on Legal Services, Criminal Justice and Court Services. The project team will be made up of representatives from those divisions and consultants from Turnkey. They will be soliciting the input of staff in one-on-one interviews and in focus group sessions. The planning stage of the project should be completed by the end of April, with implementation of identified organizational improvements to take place over the next two years.

The staff of Alberta Justice has never hesitated to embrace new or innovative ways to improve our department or the services it provides. I have no doubt that the same will hold true for this initiative. May I thank you all in advance for your support and for your valuable input into the renewal process.

It's hard to believe that it has been more than a year since Alberta Solicitor General became a separate and equal government ministry. A lot has happened in the past 12 months or so, and I'm proud to say the people in our ministry have risen to every challenge we have faced.

Alberta Solicitor General staff played a key role in introducing new and appropriate security measures at the Alberta Legislature, McDougall Centre and other government buildings. Our ministry is also a key player in the Minister's Task Force on Security. Our officials meet regularly with the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to stay on top of security issues and we're leading the negotiations with the federal government to ensure Alberta is reimbursed for G8 security costs.

Thanks to the hard work and input of our staff, Alberta played a major role at three federal/provincial/territorial meetings of Justice Ministers and Solicitors General in the past year. The result has been significant progress on a national sex offender registry, the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act and other measures to enhance the safety and security of Albertans and all Canadians.

Although Alberta is largely insulated from the world economic slow down, our ministry accepted its responsibility as part of government-wide budget restraint measures, like the one per cent funding lapse, announced last fall. Teamwork by all divisions in our ministry resulted in Treasury Board approval of our 2002/03 budget.

Alberta Solicitor General may only be a little over a year old, but we have quickly learned to walk and run on our own. I am very proud of what our team has accomplished in such a short time and look forward to even more challenges and greater successes in the coming year.