Message from the Deputy Attorney General

When we set our direction in the Service Plan for 2003/04, we continued to face many of the same challenges we had faced in the previous year. Resources were still limited. Cases were becoming even more complex and costly to process. Program changes were adding new service demands to existing ones. Clearly we had to find additional ways to modify and improve some aspects of the provincial justice system in order to meet the continuing challenges.

Throughout 2003/04, the ministry focused on its strengths, built on the successes achieved in the previous year and sought opportunities to effect enduring change through reform. As this report describes elsewhere in greater detail, we embarked on a series of substantial reforms, streamlined processes, expanded access to justice services, introduced new services to meet new needs and developed simpler and more efficient legislation.

Since last year, we have also been in the process of rethinking our own future within the ministry to ensure our capacity to meet future challenges. We have been redefining our vision, rekindling our mission and restating our goals. In doing so, we have reassigned resources and redeployed staff, and we will strengthen our commitment to our employees. These efforts should be particularly visible in our next Service Plan.

We also cannot lose sight of our important role in government, as the Ministry of Attorney General is charged with the responsibility of seeing that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law. This is a function we discharge diligently and in a cost-effective manner for the province.

This Annual Service Plan Report only describes part of the efforts and essential reforms that we are making and which we believe are needed in the justice system to reflect the ever-changing needs of our society. Law reform and innovation in the justice system is a key goal for us. We will pursue that goal as vigorously as we can in the coming years, working to ensure that our justice system is one that can readily respond to the evolving needs of those it serves.

Sincerely,

Allan Seckel
Deputy Attorney General