Mr. Speaker, this is in response to a question asked by Mr. Gargan on September 14, regarding the Aboriginal Justice Initiative.
Under Justice Canada's aboriginal justice fund, no portion of the funding is expressly earmarked for any of the provinces, or territories. However, to assist communities in gaining access to these funds, my department has been consulting with aboriginal organizations, making communities aware of the federal initiative, assisting them to draft project and funding proposals, and making Justice Canada aware of other interested communities, and proposals under development.
To date, this consultation has involved project proposals from the communities of Fort Good Hope, Fort McPherson, Fort Norman, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Rae-Edzo and Tuktoyaktuk. There has been interest expressed in this process by the communities of Coppermine, Coral Harbour, Fort Franklin and Whale Cove.
It has only been within the last few months, that one specific employee of the federal program has been assigned to work with the communities of the Northwest Territories on their proposals. Thank you.