I and the Minister of Justice have begun consultations with provincial counterparts, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and organizations such as the CACP to come up with a regime to share fairly the assets from drug cases. These consultations will be of great help to us in developing legislation to establish a federal assets management office and sharing mechanism. The office will manage assets seized by police and administer the sharing of forfeited assets. And I want to make it clear that sharing is completely tied to forfeitures gained and that no one should expect a windfall. In conclusion, I want to emphasize that Solicitor General Canada's enforcement efforts against drug trafficking forms only part of Canada's Drug Strategy.
Enforcement is only half the battle.
Prevention through education is crucial and this was the prime focus of the first five years of the strategy and will be for the next five years. We have been working to change people's attitudes towards drugs and this can only be done through continuing drug education and awareness programs. Over the last five years, there has been a radical shift in awareness among Canadians young and old of the dangers of drug abuse, including alcohol abuse. This has been the success story of the first five years of the strategy. I see a tremendous groundswell of public opinion against the harm of drugs and those who sell them.