Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for being here.
Minister, my background is in education. For 18 years I served as a teacher, a vice-principal, and a principal. I can tell you, from meeting my colleagues at many conferences, that it was very frustrating for educators across Canada to know that many of their students were accessing provincial services, from justice, from health, from community services, as well as education, and these were particularly victims of crime. There were all these gaps in the system. In fact, one hand didn't know what the other hand was doing. They wouldn't even know sometimes that a particular child was receiving services or interventions from another department, even though both were going on simultaneously.
You and I had the experience of doing a round table together recently in Halifax. We heard loud and clear the positive impact that child advocacy centres were having on the lives of children. I know this is something for which you, personally, have taken the initiative in supporting the funding.
I'm wondering if you could elaborate on what you, as the Minister of Justice, have seen as far as positive impact is concerned and why you believe we should continue to place a high priority on funding these centres.