Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight once again the issue of a lack of funding in the legal aid program. Mr. Speaker, I asked questions in this regard to the Minister of Justice yesterday and I must say that the answers the Minister gave leave a lot to be desired.
Mr. Speaker, if the Minister would only take a moment to inquire, he would learn that there is a huge backlog, more than 100 people, waiting for financial assistance in order to obtain legal assistance. Many of these people, Mr. Speaker, are in need of legal assistance desperately in order to obtain spousal and child support payments. They have to wait for months to get into court and months more to have their cases heard and judged on.
Mr. Speaker, I know from previous experience that most of these applicants get no more than two or three hours of legal service approved at each time. This is especially disconcerting given the fact that the government and the Legislature seem to have no problem spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees in all sorts of cases when it comes to our own rights, our own reputation and our own integrity. I know that we have a much larger limit than two or three hours of legal service when our own jeopardy is in question.
Mr. Speaker, those who need the help of legal assistance for their livelihood seem to get very, very little attention. It is time, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister of Justice stands up for those who really need to fight for them, and I ask the Minister to put more attention and energy into obtaining more money and resources from his Cabinet colleagues for our legal aid program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause