Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the department may not be doing it, but the RCMP should be tracking this, because we are supposed to be seeing a decline in the sale of cannabis, the illegal part of it. I guess I am looking forward to maybe you asking the RCMP to add that as part of their report to you. Can you get at least that done through that way? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Sebert.

Yes. I suppose I can ask. I mean, one of the points of the legalization was to remove this from the black market. We will know what sales are in the Northwest Territories, and I would like to think that is money that is taken out of the hands of criminals. That was one of the major points of the legislation.

As I said, this was long in coming. I mean, if you are asking me how much the market for marijuana has been diminished by the change of law, that is rather hard to determine because it was a black market before. I would hope that the fact that now it is being sold legally in some of the stores in the Northwest Territories that that has reduced the illegal trade, and logic would tell me that is true, but I don't know if there is any way to mathematically verify that. Logic tells me that is true. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Did you want to provide a reply to that comment there, Minister Sebert?

Yes. I thank the Member for his comments. I mean, for example, in the liquor trade, we do have people charged for selling illegally. I will bring this concern that has been mentioned to the RCMP. Yes, it is probably true that there are still people selling marijuana, but I would hope that the majority of those who wish to acquire marijuana are going to the store and buying it, just as they do with liquor. Yes, there is still liquor that is being sold illegally, and, yes, there is still marijuana that is probably being sold illegally. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Any further questions on this activity? Seeing none, I will call out on page 289, Department of Justice, policing services, operations expenditure summary, $46,257,000. Does committee agree?

For the record, I will call that total again here. $46,257,000. Agreed?

Okay. We will move on to page 291, Department of Justice, services to government, operations expenditure summary, $11,908,000. The details are from 293. Any questions to this activity? Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, could I ask a question of clarification to start with, that the Victims Assistance Fund information on page 297 is a part of this segment of the budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Sebert.

Yes, I understand that it falls under community justice and policing, but we can certainly take the questions if there are questions.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Ms. Green.

Thank you. Okay. It wasn't clear to me exactly which segment that is in, because it is right after "services to the public." My question is about the Victims Assistance Fund. I see here that it is running a deficit of $359,000, and that is up another $50,000 over last year. Can the Minister explain to us why this fund is growing and whether there are any plans to disperse more information according to the current criteria? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Sebert.

I understand that, actually, this is a surplus, but perhaps I could have Ms. Bolstad expand on my answer.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Ms. Bolstad.

Thank you, Ms. Bolstad. Ms. Green.

Yes, I misspoke. I realize it is a surplus. I am asking why there is such a large surplus in this fund and whether there are plans to spend it down. Thank you.