Thank you for the presentation. You've described a condition that many communities in my riding are facing.
I welcomed the opportunity to talk to the Native Women's Association of NWT. We talked about a number of different things, and some of the issues were startling to me and we need to find solutions in a lot of different areas.
One of the things we discussed was the legal system. In the north, at least, it's very complicated and, for the most part, confusing to people who are in distress and are seeking assistance and to have the justice system on their side, to be reassured that they can deal with the issue at hand. A lot of times the system is too complicated and a woman will just throw her hands up in the air and give up and go back into a community or a relationship that, a lot of times, is not safe and high risk, as you stated. They really pointed to the need for an advocate or an ombudsman to help them as they enter into the system. They also talked about the lack of resources for programs to help individuals who come into the larger centres and to refer them to.
First, can you talk a little about your funding? Can you talk a little about the resources that you have to operate within, how they have either grown over the last years, or shrunk or been reduced? Maybe give us a snapshot of what you have to work with.