Thank you very much, Mr. Ménard.
I do not speak French very well yet, but I do understand.
I appreciate the importance of providing services in both official languages. Mr. Sullivan is committed to proficiency in the French language, and my understanding is that he will have the resources to improve. I can't analyze how much he speaks or understands, but he and I shared some comments yesterday at the symposium attended by Madam Jennings and a number of us. One individual spoke entirely in French, and he and I compared notes to make sure we understood what was being said. He is committed to that proficiency, and I take note of the comments you've made.
You asked about the youth justice services program. This is an ongoing program that has been around since 1984. It's been under various names, which actually might lead to a bit of confusion if you're looking at the estimates and trying to compare last year with this year. Because the previous program expired on March 31 this year, we entered into a number of consultations with the provinces in Ontario to come up with a new agreement. The new agreement will cover the five-year period from April 1 of last year to 2010 at a cost of $177.3 million. We believe that working with the provinces to assist youth is an excellent expenditure of funds.
As to the Director of Public Prosecutions, one of the things I wanted to make clear in my opening comments is that we didn't set up the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions because we believed there was a problem at the present time with criminal prosecutions in this country. We believe it's in the overall best interests of the administration of justice, with respect to the Criminal Code and related statutes, to have an independent office that would operate at arm's length but still be responsible to the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice, as you quite correctly pointed out, would ultimately be responsible for that appointment.
You may be aware that we will involve members of all political parties in having input on who that individual will be. I think it's an idea whose time has come, and I'm pleased that Mr. Brian Saunders, who is with me now, is the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions.
Since you've concluded your remarks, comments, and questions on that, I'll invite him to make any comments he likes. That might give you further edification.