Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to talk about legal aid. In 2016, it was decided by the government at the time that budget cuts needed to happen, according to a CBC article that I found, which stated: "The budget proposes closing the town's legal aid office, which specializes in family law, and moving the sole lawyer position from Inuvik to Yellowknife. The office's administrative worker position would be eliminated." Mr. Speaker, that did happen.

Since being elected, I have heard from my constituents that, once applying for legal aid, they wait months for a family law lawyer. That would be for cases that include custody and child maintenance. The response I received from the Minister when I asked why this was taking so long, and I quote: "There are many variables that can affect wait times in family law matters, including vacancies in staff lawyer positions, the reluctance of private lawyers to take on legal aid family law files, and the volume of applications."

Currently, two of the seven staffed family law positions at the Legal Aid Commission are vacant, which has unfortunately led to an increased wait time. It was also stated in the letter that urgent matters such as child apprehension files and files involving domestic violence or matters already before the court are assigned on a priority basis. The current wait time for the assignment of a family law lawyer to approve the applicant is approximately seven months for non-urgent family law matters. Mr. Speaker, these wait times are unacceptable to have a lawyer assigned to them, especially for custody and maintenance, which the wait times have been longer as they are considered nonurgent. If you're living in that situation, to those people, it's urgent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.