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5.  UPDATED MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

The following management response was provided by K. MacCormick, Chief Legislative Counsel, on May 23, 2001.  The response highlights changes or activities undertaken since the audit was completed.

Recommendations 1 through 3

Work on the LIMS Project is proceeding with current budget plans, completion of the project is anticipated in early 2003 for bills.  Application to draft regulations will then follow, unless additional resources can be found to allow for earlier implementation.  The preparation of a training plan for LIMS has been delayed in accordance with this timeframe.  A "Prototype Group" has been established for the trial of the new work environment and this group will be preparing the LIMS training plan.  In the interim, the existing macro and template facilities will continue to be refined and more clearly documented in order to improve the drafting environment.

Recommendations 5 and 8

Revisors and jurilinguists play a complementary role in supporting the drafting of bills and regulations.  The report notes that both the Legislation and Regulations Sections were well satisfied with the services provided to them by the revisors and jurilinguists, which has consistently been the case.  The roles that the revisors and jurilinguists play has been established since the creation of the Jurilinguistic Services Unit and communications between the two services have been very good.

Because the two services are involved in the review of draft legislation at different stages and the individuals bring their different experiences and interpretations to the legislative text, on occasion, differing suggestions may be made for the drafters consideration.  Experienced drafters appreciate the varied input.  The occasional overlap is not necessarily an impediment to the preparation of high quality bills and regulations.

At this time, there is no apparent need to further clarify roles.

Legislative paralegal positions have been created, classified and staffed.  A number of legislative paralegal projects have already been undertaken, for example, the Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, assisting drafters by drafting portions of the Modernization of Benefits Act, National Parks Regulations amendments, and drafting motions for the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.  These efforts have been realized despite considerable staff turnover.  The legislative paralegal function will continue to be developed as experience and resources permit.  Consultations will continue with the Legislation and Regulations Sections to more precisely define the circumstances (e.g., drafter's and paralegal's workload, nature of the file) under which files may be handled in the paralegal stream.

 

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