Bryan applauds government's anti-violence plan

NEWS RELEASE

BRYAN HAYES, SAULT MP

*****************************
Early this week, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, released the Government of Canada’s Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls. 

The Government of Canada has invested an additional $25 million over five years to address crimes against Aboriginal women and girls in Economic Action Plan 2014.

The Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls is delivering on this commitment.

“Canada is a country where those who break the law are punished; where penalties match the severity of crimes committed; and where the rights of victims are recognized,” said Minister Leitch. "That is why our government is releasing an Action Plan that brings together a range of measures to address violence against Aboriginal women and girls. These abhorrent acts of violence will not be tolerated.”

The Government of Canada believes in standing up for victims of crime.

The Action Plan takes immediate and concrete action to prevent violence, support victims and protect Aboriginal women and girls through a number of new and ongoing commitments.

These include developing more community safety plans on and off reserve and ensuring families are supported to access and navigate the justice system.

This new investment is part of a range of measures, totalling nearly $200 million, to address violence against Aboriginal women and girls, which include:

• supporting the creation of a DNA-based Missing Persons Index;
• continuing to support police investigations through the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains;
• providing safe haven for victims by funding shelters on reserve on an ongoing basis; and
• implementing initiatives to make communities safer, such as:
  -introducing new legislation to create a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights that would establish, at the federal level, clear rights for victims of crime;
  -improving the status and rights of Aboriginal women through the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act;
  -enhancing the safety and security of on-reserve residents, particularly women and children, through the Family Violence Prevention Program;
  -passing into law the Safe Streets and Communities Act, part of which eliminated the use of conditional sentences, or house arrest, for serious and violent crimes.

“Our Government has thoughtfully brought an all-encompassing plan to the table,” said Bryan Hayes, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie. 

“The Action Plan contains solutions, support systems for victims and a violence prevention program. I applaud the Government on this initiative, which goes hand in hand with my Private Member’s Motion, M-504, I tabled in the House of Commons in April 2014 which instructs the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, ‘to undertake a study on the subject of best practices in education programs, social programs and policies in Canada that prevent violence against women, and report its findings to the House within one year of the study's initiation.’”

Quick Facts

The Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls builds on the Government of Canada’s 2010 investment of $25 million to address this important issue.

The RCMP’s National Operational Overview, released on May 16, 2014, indicated that 225 cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls remain unsolved today.

The Overview provides critical information on the nature and extent of the issue.

The research highlights characteristics of the perpetrators of Aboriginal women homicides, for example: in 89 percent of cases, they were male; in 44 percent of cases, they had consumed intoxicants prior to the incident; and in 92 percent of cases, victims were murdered by a family member or acquaintance.

*****************************