First, Minister, on behalf of my constituents, I want to take this opportunity to formally thank you and the members of this committee for their work on Bill C-51. That is an incredibly important piece of legislation and very important for my riding of Sault Ste. Marie, because we're a border community and have a significant Canada Border Services Agency presence there. This legislation is incredibly important for the safety of all Canadians.
Second, I want to thank you and, ultimately, this committee for bringing to fruition the elimination of the long-gun registry. That was very important to my constituents, and I would suggest that had the NDP had a different position on that in a riding such as Sault Ste. Marie, which has a significant presence of hunters, farmers, and sports shooters, perhaps I might not be sitting here today. I'm very pleased to be here representing Sault Ste. Marie.
You mentioned in your comments my piece of legislation relating to domestic violence, which is now before committee. It's a piece of legislation that I brought forward, because I recognize that this is an issue all across the nation. In Sault Ste. Marie in 2010 there were 1,250 reported cases of domestic violence, of which 256 resulted in criminal charges. Earlier you spoke about the domestic assault component, and I'm hoping you can explain why you feel it's important to include the mandatory safety training as well as firearms prohibitions for those convicted of domestic assault.