Thank you again for the question.
The federal government financially assists the provinces and territories in the provision of services to young offenders under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The last round of five-year funding agreements that supported the early implementation of the act was extended by one year, until March 31, 2007. In effect, as I understand it from the deputy minister, the funding has again not gone down and we've extended it for one year.
I would point out that many of these were related to the implementation of the act. As you will recall, the former government said there were some start-up costs that would be needed, but those costs would not continue beyond a certain point. We've now extended it by one year, and this will give me an opportunity to in fact examine what is necessary in terms of funding. That will take place with the provinces and the territories.
There is an interesting trend as a result of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in which there was an indication that custody was down about 30%, if my figures are correct. In any event, it was a substantial reduction in custody. It doesn't necessarily say that the act is working or that youth are less involved in crime; it simply says there are 30% fewer youths in custody.
If that is in fact the case, then one has to ask this question: where is the money that the federal government has brought forward to support youth programs going, and is that money then being used in other capacities? It's a discussion I need to have with the provinces.