Status of Women Committee on May 2nd, 2013

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

They've been pretty clear. They don't like it.

[Jeffrey Cyr]

I think they speak for themselves, and I don't pretend to do that.

I would suggest that there are ramifications in dealing with it, which many people have hinted at, that will come out of this piece of legislation. Any piece of legislation that's new has ramifications. It takes time for Canadian society to absorb it: what does that mean? There are all kinds of little things we didn't think of as we went through these processes.

I think that services need to be looked at and need to be enhanced in the urban environment for aboriginal people, without a doubt. We've always maintained that. These situations will create a new demand, or an enhanced demand, on those services. They're not going away. They may have remedies now, legally, within a piece of legislation, but it may take time to see those remedies through, and it's the time that becomes critical between seeking your remedy—whether it's an injunction, or an order, or whatever it is—and actually being back in a home, or in a home where you can take care of yourself or your children.

It's that time and it's that gap. It's not a comment on the legal proprietariness of the bill itself—it is what it is and the consultation process is what it is—it's what will happen, or what happens now, that concerns us as an organization. It seems to concern the YWCA as well, because they end up in our centres, and then what do we do?

[The Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

Thank you, Mr. Cyr. Thank you, Ms. Bennett.

This concludes this meeting of our committee.

Mr. Cyr, on behalf of the committee, I would once again like to thank you for having taken part in our meeting. The clerk will follow up on the questions Ms. Bennett raised.

Thank you, everyone.

The meeting is adjourned.