Mr. Chairman, this unit is actually created. It is a government-wide initiative. This was not an initiative of the Department of Justice alone. The need was identified because of the increase in the need for the consultation around economic and resource development, around conservation and the environmental issues, that has become very apparent that the need for consultation was certainly going to increase. It was not going away. The investment in this unit I think is actually much less than the investment that would be required should we fail just once to consult appropriately.

This unit was established. The decision to have it in the Department of Justice was made so rather than having just one lawyer who would be assigned the file, there would be access to a bank of lawyers with expertise. It didn’t have to be in the Department of Justice, but it was felt that that was the most appropriate place for it. It is very definitely to provide services to all departments to ensure that the framework is maintained, to ensure that people are appropriately trained and training has been going on and to maintain that level of training to enhance the training and to provide support, to provide policy and legal direction. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.