The Justice critic is concerned that recent court closures will have a further impact on court cases being heard within a reasonable amount of time.

Supreme Court in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the provincial court in Wabush were both closed last week, prompting questions from the Opposition in the House of Assembly.

Minister Helen-Conway Ottenheimer said closures in central Labrador did not affect timeliness for court proceedings, and that court staff from Labrador were transferred to “another jurisdiction” for an ongoing matter.

Liberal Pam Parsons likens the situation to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

“I’m calling on the minister to come out and to communicate more exactly what’s happening. Again, we still don’t have a solid explanation as to why the court closures and lack of services offered back in November, and now we’re seeing this happening in Labrador.”

“What is concerning as well, we know that statistics show that intimate partner violence resulting in death in Labrador alone has a higher average than the national average on intimate partner violence.”

Justice Minister Helen Conway-Ottenheimer says she’s provided courts the tools they need through the budget.

“So we’re there to provide that support, that financial support to the courts and we’ve provided them the tools for them to work with now. And I can say it’s historic in terms of the investments that we’ve made.”