Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was going to comment on the question relating to cuts. It is not really a case of cuts that were made by the board to the fees that are paid to lawyers.

The regulations set out the maximum hours that a lawyer will generally be paid for. However, if a lawyer needs more time to spend on a case, the executive director of the Legal Services Board has a discretionary authority to approve increases where he decides that they should be paid. Due to the anticipated deficit, the executive director instructed lawyers that discretionary increases would not be authorized, except in situations where there were compelling circumstances. So the restriction was more in the nature of how that discretion to approve hours beyond that established by the regulations would be exercised. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. The review is to look at legal aid. There is obviously a lot of concern by the users of this program, the lawyers as well as complaints from clients that are out in the communities. It is also to look at the deficits that this program accrues on a yearly basis and to try to identify that.

I guess it is to try to identify what is driving the cost and as well to try to determine the level of funding that is required to run the program. Those are the two objectives that we identified to do in this review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Legal Services Program, as you know, is handled by the Legal Services Board, which is independent of government, according to our Legislature. They set the tariffs for the lawyers. The tariffs, or rates paid to lawyers for their services, have regulations they follow to determine the hourly rates and the daily rates. There are different amounts for a student-at-law or somebody who has less than four years, four years to six years, seven years to ten years, ten years or more. The rate goes up with the amount of years you spend as a lawyer. So they have set that rate and they follow that rate. That is a set rate. If that is a problem for the lawyers, then the Legal Services Board are going to be meeting with the law society to discuss this issue fairly shortly at the next board meeting this coming weekend, I believe.

So that may seem to be a problem there, but there are other factors as well. I am told that family law and criminal law are two different approaches. Apparently, not too many lawyers who are family law lawyers are in the North. It is less glamorous and it takes a lot more time to deal with family law issues.

So there is a difference between criminal law and family law in that regard. So that could be the reason why we see a bit of a backlog in the family law cases and we do not see them in criminal cases. We are aware of what the concerns are and what we perceive of the problems that are there.

Of course, it all comes down to dollars. As I indicated earlier, the whole program is supposed to be a jointly funded program with the federal government. They have not been giving their fair share for this program. Every increase that we put into this program is coming from our share. We need to look at that and we need to review that.

The indications are that the federal justice department is aware of this problem not only from here in the North but throughout all the jurisdictions in Canada, that the legal aid programs throughout the country are underfunded. We need to also see if we could get additional funding from the federal Department of Justice in this regard. I would like to see a review of this whole program.

Apparently, the last time this program was done ten years ago, there were a lot of good recommendations that came out of it to improve the program and keep that direction. I think it is about time that we do another review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Specifically on the lawyers' fees and so forth that the honourable Member is referring to, the Legal Services Board, even though funded by the Department of Justice, is an agency that runs this program. It is a challenging mandate in trying to manage its budget and at the same time provide legal services for residents. Because of the deficit position for the fiscal year, the executive director in his letter indicated that he will not authorize the discretionary funding unless very compelling circumstances exist. So it is still there. If it is really needed, then he would approve it. The lawyers have to state their case.

So it is not a unilateral cut to all the discretionary needs of the lawyers. Having said that, until this budget is approved and we get into a new fiscal year, the Legal Services Board will be reviewing that specific policy early to determine that and revisit it again. We will probably get back to how it was before.

The bigger review that we are talking about will also address the exact questions the honourable Member has in trying to determine how to improve the existing program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My concern is in a similar area dealing with public legal services. I raised concerns at the last session and some of those concerns were addressed by the department to a certain extent. There are still many, many things that need to be done. This government is a government that creates laws and laws get broken or people get charged for breaking laws. If we have a public legal service that is designed to protect people's constitutional rights but we have a system that is ailing because of a lack of knowledge, as Mr. Miltenberger says, it is justice denied.

I understand there are under ten lawyers practicing in the family law section of the public legal services in the Northwest Territories and there is a significant backlog. People separating is one of the causes of family law. Our economy in the Northwest Territories is based on, for the most part, non-renewable resource development, which takes people out of their homes, out of their communities into the work environment for an extended period of time. That puts a lot of stress on the family, which will result in some family break-ups, putting more pressure on the legal aid system.

My understanding today, and I would like the Minister to confirm this, is that property issues are not covered under legal aid. Is that correct, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in the case of family law and property, if children are involved, then the property issue would be dealt with in family law.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I say property, I am talking about homes, equipment, tools and toys, snowmobiles, boats, et cetera. Those are property and I just want to refer to that specifically. Also, what happens if there are no children involved?

If there are no children involved in the family when there is a break-up, then the property issues are not dealt with in that case. Thank you.

Thank you. Just to be on the same page, Mr. Chairman, can the Minister elaborate on what he means by property? Thank you.