Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, a lot of interest too I've read in the Minister's opening marks with regard to this important department. I find it very interesting that the operations budget for the department has increased this year from last year, as stated in his presentation, by $460,000. I guess I will save some specific questions for later on in terms of the reason why there are increases in the operations budget and we're making some cuts in other areas. The increase is $460,000 from last year's main estimate. This increase is to help our communities become safer and provide improved access to legal aid services. I have some questions around there. Who is it really serving?
Also, the amount of money that's being spent on law enforcement, community justice and corrections, in there it says 70 percent of the total budget is spent on those three areas. Again, I want to look at the numbers in more specific detail in terms of law enforcement where most of the communities that have a huge population have a lot of law enforcement officers in their communities, community justice and in the correction facilities. I'll save those comments for later in terms of how this is really coming out in terms of at the end of the day it really is a numbers game, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, the one issue I guess I'd like to comment on, and I'll ask the Minister later on again; is in regard to the Wilderness Camps Program. If we're not being successful in any of the regions or there's no uptake on some of the wilderness camps programs, is there something within his department to initiate those camp programs? I know Tl'oondih has a good successful program, because I spoke with some of the people in Fort McPherson and I've been to that facility. According to the people in Fort McPherson, they had a successful program. Why are we not using more and more people? Some of that could be similar to the Sahtu region. Why are we investing so much money in facilities in Yellowknife? There are huge facilities here.
Regarding young offenders, I know there are some people who need to be put into those institutions, there's no doubt about it, but there are a lot of them who could stay in the community or stay in the region. With the high cost of living, people can go hunt and fish for the elders, provide food, wood. Let them do their time out there. Why are we cutting back in the regions? Get it back to the regions.
I guess that's why I have a difficult time supporting the initiative on the new courthouse building. Forty-one million dollars can do a lot for a people in the communities. We have a facility here in Yellowknife. I don't really understand, and it's hard to tell that to the people in the small communities, that we plan to spend $41 million in Yellowknife so that we can have a nice courthouse and say it's ours. Let's have some nice camps and some nice facilities on the land and in the bush in our communities. Put policing in those 11 communities that I spoke about yesterday in my Member's statement about putting the police officers in those 11 communities. How about some programs there? Do some preventative programs. I know there is an aboriginal policing recruitment and aboriginal policing initiatives, but I don't see that there's enough there. It's way too low. It's just too low.
So, Mr. Chairman, those are just my comments for now, and again I would bring some more specific questions to the Minister and his officials in terms of the budget that they're presenting before us. I think now is the time the Justice Minister made some radical changes in the communities. We've been doing this for how many years? It's like we're spinning our wheels in some areas. I think it's time to go back to the basics. Some of those programs do work in the communities. Support them and initiate them. That's all I have to say, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.