I want to say that we have two RCMP in Berens River, and there are gaps in the RCMP service. This bill will not stop the women and children from dying in Berens River. I go to those funerals, and it's serious.
This bill is not going to stop anybody dying in Berens River. If a man decides to pick up a knife and in a drunken stupor stab somebody he loves, he's going to do that, because we only have two RCMP in Berens River. This legislation is not going to stop anything like that. It's a much bigger problem, a much bigger issue, and if you've worked on the east side, you would know that.
So it's not going to help anybody not die in Berens River. Unfortunately, it's people like me who are going to go to the house of the man who's beating up the woman and say, “Stop that; that's not the Indian way.” That's what's going to change it, and we need to empower our own community, instead of thinking that some kind of legislation from outside is going to make me safe in my community.