* (1640)

Mr. Chairperson (Marcel Laurendeau): Does the honourable minister have an opening statement? No? Thank you.

Does the honourable critic have an opening statement?

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): We had a question-and-answer exchange on this earlier on in the supplementary Estimates. I am wondering if the minister, though, can briefly advise the committee, if he is in a position to, whether this fund now has been divvied up in terms of where the monies are to be allocated, and if he wishes to do so in writing, I would welcome that.

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General) : What I can indicate at this time is that the--I have asked staff to develop the criteria that I read into the record, and it has been on that basis that they are making certain determinations in respect of what one would call an A list and a B list and a C list. Ultimately, they have to come to me in terms of where we go, and cabinet will eventually approve those expenditures.

But I think the input of my staff in establishing criteria, as indicated on the record here the other day, will go some way to assure the member that this is a responsibility that we take very seriously, that the monies are to be expended on Justice Initiatives, including and, indeed, may well primarily concern Aboriginal Justice Initiatives. So actually I have nothing further to report at this time. It seems to be premature to suggest that the monies have been divvied up, given that there has been no approval in the Legislature here, so we have to be very cautious before we make commitments. But I can indicate to the member that the basis upon which these decisions are made are those outlined in the criteria, and we will attempt to and endeavour to conduct our conduct on that basis.

Mr. Mackintosh: I would like the government to know that we have very serious concerns about how this fund is structured. This is $1.5 million that has not been directed to any particular area of justice. Justice is a very broad term, and we would think that agencies like the Provincial Auditor would have concerns about such a fund, but we will be watching very, very carefully to ensure that the funds are expended in a fair way to areas of greatest need and that there is a detailed plan at the earliest opportunity as to how these monies should be spent.

Mr. Chairperson: Resolution 26.3: RESOLVED that there be granted to her Majesty a sum not exceeding $1,500,000 for Enabling Appropriations, Justice Initiatives, for the fiscal year ending the 31st day of March, 1998.

This concludes the Justice Initiatives. We will now be moving onto Education. At this time we will recess for five minutes or so until we get the minister and critics into place. Thank you.

The committee recessed at 4:43 p.m.

The committee resumed at 5:01 p.m.