Thank you.
There is a $2 million grants and contributions fund in the Department of Justice to encourage innovative projects to meet the needs of victims of crime. That money can be provided, on a project basis, to provinces and territories and to non-governmental organizations. In addition, there's a small component that's for emergency financial assistance to individual victims where there's no other source of funding available. That's the $2.1 million component. That's been in existence for six years now, and we have that funding through to 2010. So that would have appeared in the department's estimates since 2005.
Last year we were operating under special warrants, because as my colleagues explained, the program sunsetted and we were renewed, but the renewal got caught up in the election process. So there may appear to be zero in one of those years, but we did have the money and we did spend it very well, and it has been positively evaluated.
The other $500,000 you referred to is the current resources available to us to assist victims to travel to National Parole Board hearings by covering their travel costs. As the minister has indicated, he does intend to enhance both of those funds, but for the time being, we're operating with the $2 million for the program and the $0.5 million for travel to parole hearings.