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“We need to know what became of that,” he said. “How was it used? Why didn’t it work?”

The Court Information Management System was supposed to enable online court services, including scheduling, and consolidate the ministry’s three case tracking systems. But the approach turned out to be too grand and the government realized it had bitten off more than it could chew, said Meilleur.

“We had initiatives in the past, I think, that we were trying to do too much at once,” she said. “(Now) we are looking at initiatives that can move quickly.”

The government is reverting to tweaking existing systems and trying to modernize one step at a time.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the government has revised its approach to large-scale modernization initiatives.

“The ministry is in the process of identifying the areas that require change, and developing a detailed and strategic modernization plan. We are also moving forward with modernization projects that are incremental, targeted and meet the expectations of court users and the public,” Heather Visser said in a statement.

Incremental projects the government highlighted include: putting next-day court dockets online, expanding the use of video conferencing, including an agreement with K-Net in northern Ontario, an e-filing pilot project in small claims court and an online service for parents to set up or change child support payments.

The Progressive Conservatives’ attorney general critic said every improvement is a positive step, but she wondered if an incremental process will mean the same level of service is not available in every jurisdiction.