DEC 6 1976

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- Victoria, British Columbia.

ates

November 25, 1976.

His Worship J. M. Campbell,
Mayor of Port Coquitlam,
so City Hall,
2272 McAllister Avenue, .
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

ee OS LA tO OR CRE

Dear Mayor Campbell:

I thank you for your letter of October 25th
and the suggestions that you make in the letter. The
article which you enclosed had already been brought to
the attention of the Courts Services Section of my

i Department.

i. I share your views that the $6.00 per day
witness fee is, today, inadequate. However, based on
that tariff our Court Services Division estimates that
in the present fiscal year we will pay out approximately
$450,000.00 in witness fees. Increasing the present
tariff to $50.00 per day would bring this expenditure up
to approximately $3,750,000.00. In addition to this, as
there is a direct relationship between the minimum fees
paid to a witness in a criminal prosecution and the fees.
paid to a witness in a private civil suit, we would be
increasing the cost of litigation by a substantial
amount by increasing the minimum fee. Therefore, while

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