Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the funding levels for community justice committees, many of which do a lot of exceptional work in addressing community justice concerns, tackling youth crime head on, and diligently working with community and government organizations to make the Community Justice Program work. But the funding levels which the government provides to the 32 communities are seriously out of balance, Mr. Speaker.

Out of the $652,000 that this government provides to these 32 communities, 14 percent, or almost $100,000, goes to eight communities which have not had any directly related justice activities. Four other communities which handle approximately 45 percent of the 1,275 justice committee activities here in the NWT received only 18 percent, or $122,000, of the total justice committee budget.

To me, Mr. Speaker, it does not seem fair for the communities which are fully engaged and participated in the justice committee programs but are seriously under-resourced by this government. I am curious if the Department of Justice is aware of how the communities that receive funding and do not take on any activities are spending these so-called limited resources. I feel that these limited resources should be redirected or reallocated to other communities that have active committees that take on 100 or more activities per year but operations are seriously under-funded, therefore, jeopardizing the success of the justice program.

The Department of Justice must gather the historical data which clearly shows that local justice committees work in the activities that they carry out. I think that the funding arrangement should reflect that information. Mr. Speaker, I will have some questions to the Justice Minister at the appropriate time about these funding levels. Thank you.

---Applause