Thank you, Chair.
I thank all my colleagues, as well as the guests. This is my first justice committee meeting, so I'm honoured to be here.
This is a deep subject for my heart. I have several women's shelters in my riding, including Nisa, as well as the Surrey Women's Centre, both providing excellent services to sometimes the most vulnerable people in our society: women at risk. I was very pleased to find a way to announce some funding for them right at the beginning of the pandemic, in April, which I think helped them, although, at the time, probably nobody could predict the staggering increase in level of cases.
Ms. Smylie, can you tell us what the government can do better to prevent some of this violence and reduce these patterns of control?