Mr. Speaker, we've had meetings with the volunteers and staff who work with victims' services and have told them that the money we have allocated to them is all there is. There is a real sense that the federal government is reducing their commitment in this area as well since most of these centres also receive a portion of their funding from the federal government. We have no idea how much they're being cut.
There is a sense, as well, that a number of other areas are going to be cut. For instance, this government has been served notice by the federal Minister that the cost-sharing agreement for young offenders has been effectively terminated, with a view that we should renegotiate a new funding agreement. It doesn't mean additional federal money, it means the federal government wants to reduce the amount they contribute under the program.
We have said that we would try to find some way, through social envelope committee work, to make better use of existing dollars and to turn over how the existing dollars should be best allocated by getting advice from community-based organizations which Mr. Dent is referring to. Our job now is to bring the recommendations of this committee to the social envelope committee, take it as direction to work with women's groups and victims' services centres and suggest where some of the money from the community action fund should be allocated and, as well, other resources that this government has.
The federal government is not thinking about expanding this program, they're pulling out of it. Mr. Dent has got to realize that it's a huge commitment to even think about funding in part, victims' service centres right across the territories. We're having difficulties just maintaining four and, even there, the federal government is withdrawing services. At a time when the entire budget of the territorial government is being reduced and being picked away, program by program, by the federal government, we can't even think about suggesting expansion of these programs. At best, we're trying to find ways to maintain what we have now. We're trying to do that without demoralizing the volunteers and the people who commit to working in these victims' services centres. Thank you.