What we're trying to do with the benchmarks is broaden the discussion from “the system needs more money”, which it obviously does, and the need for belt tightening. We're trying to open up that discussion.
For example, there needs to be a coordination between the justice systems and other areas—health, social services, that kind of thing. That's what I think our last benchmark really speaks to, the need for a coordination of the system and also a coordination within jurisdictions. We recognize very well that there are going to be differing priorities in different jurisdictions, and we're saying that our benchmarks allow for a flexibility in that, so that local priorities can be reflected in those benchmarks. We need to have a common language to have a discussion and to know what, concretely, the goal is that we're trying to meet.
What we're trying to say with the benchmarks is that we need all of the stakeholders, provincial government and federal government, to meet and collaborate and agree upon common aspirational goals to do all of these things. Yes, it's money but it's also the need to look not just at legal representation but at triage, to look at different paths to justice and make those a reality for people.
In the example you gave of your constituent, it's also a matter that in criminal legal aid there has been seen to be and there are foundational constitutional principles at play, but there needs to be a deeper recognition, particularly for groups such as women, that there are also constitutional rights at play: section 7 rights, the section 15 right to equality, and section 28, which says that women's rights have to be taken equally seriously as those of men. The right to liberty for an abused woman, for example, has to be taken equally seriously.