Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. I will now recognize the Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just for my clarity, the Minister pointed out that some of this funding came under an agreement with Canada, which goes underneath the control of the board which he referenced that some people will have their court case will be before a judge. In a community situation it will be under the discretion and direction of the board as to decide how much time they'll make available, or what policy they will draw up, or how they will format that. Is that sort of how I understood that?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Dent.

Madam Chair, it would have to be the board that administers the program. So they will set the policy up and determine which lawyers go to see which clients.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So as an observation from this side, the Minister truly has no control in that particular regard if the board decides not to use that discretion, because as I see it, the board can decide five extra minutes, as we heard earlier, as more time. Can I just get that reaffirmed or clarified? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would be surprised if it was anything like that. I think that the people who work on the board are dedicated people who have the interest of justice at heart, and aren't likely to be mean spirited, as the Member seems to be suggesting might happen. So I am quite comfortable that we will see the funds administered properly and we'll be able to account for them to the federal government.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

I apologize for inciting improper use of the funds, but I think the way I understood the Minister describing earlier is he has no control on how they decide to administer the funds. We did reference that five minutes would be more time, but would the Minister be willing to write a letter as a suggestion to the board that they ensure a certain amount of time, therefore the people who do receive community justice under this program access to justice agreement with Canada will ensure at least a standard amount of time, be it one hour, in consultation with the board but whatever the board deems lawful in this particular case. Some clients are only seeing a lawyer for the first time just prior to their case, we should be setting a standard and a direction. Would the Minister be willing to address some of those issues, with a suggestion to the board? Obviously, because he doesn't tell the board what to do because they are arm's length, I

recognize that, but would he be able to follow it up with a letter? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't think that that's necessary. The board is well aware of what the terms and conditions are for the money, and their interest is, in fact, in seeing adequate time for all the clients with lawyers. So there isn't a need for me to try and dictate how the monies are spent. I'm quite comfortable that the monies will be spent properly and ensuring that adequate time is found for an accused person with a lawyer. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you. Some of this money being directed, the $315,000 being directed to the Legal Services Board under the board's discretion, of course as the board sees fit, is there any way to identify on how some of it is being spent, whether it's going to be spent on civil or family law? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Dent.

Madam Chair, the monies all have to be accounted for as they are spent. But as I pointed out in my opening comments and then in the briefing note that Members were given a copy of, we know that some of the money is going to be spent on family law because part of the funds are going to pay for a family lawyer. I do not believe that legal aid is used for civil cases anymore, and the Member did ask about civil cases. I don't think that that is encompassed in their funding anymore.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Minister. To his surprise I will change subjects. On page 2-4, implementation and the Protection Against Family Violence Act, the Minister referenced $414,000 being spent for that implementation. Could the Minister expand on why we need so much money to implement this in a layperson's perspective? It looks like a legislation update change, awareness campaign. I am not sure if the Minister could clarify that. That would be most helpful to Regular Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the department has been working on the implementation plans for this legislation with an advisory committee that has been made up of the RCMP, the YWCA, Health and Social Services, the Native Women's Association, and so on. So the implementation plan has been developed in concert with all of these agencies. The costs are to implement this new legislation; it is not a question of updating legislation, this is legislation that this Assembly has passed. It has not been proclaimed because we haven't got the training done yet to have people in the field to implement it. So what we are doing is ensuring that we have training for the RCMP, for Justices of the Peace, for shelter workers, and others in the communities who will have to be conversant with the legislation before we can actually see it becoming effective in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Hawkins.

I am prepared to see details.

Is the committee ready for details? We are on page 7-9, Justice. Services to government, operations expense, total operations expense, $10.456 million. Mr. Villeneuve.