It's because I believe action is needed, not more talk.
This is very simple. These families that I have been speaking with have said to me unequivocally, “Please act.” In fact, this extremely articulate young woman came to me in Kenora on Saturday. She was outstanding. She had lost a family member. What she said to me was, “I want action now”, and on a number of different specific items.
That's why I'm out speaking to families. It's not about all of us having a conversation about this, or quite frankly, others having a conversation about it. It's about taking action. Now this government is taking some action, and we need to take more. We recognize that. That's why in economic action plan 2014 there's an additional $25 million placed in the budget, based on what the special committee had done, so that we can focus on what families believe is most appropriate. That's why I'm out speaking to families.
I do speak to them confidentially. The reason I do that is that as a physician I think it's exceptionally important that we treat them with respect and that they get to choose what is divulged to the public or not. That's not for me to choose. That's for a family to choose.
So whether it be the things we've already done, such as the national centre for missing persons or actions that we've taken with the Canadian Police Information Centre, or whether it be our national website or even the website that we have at Status of Women Canada to deal with violence against women and girls, these are some actions that have been taken. But we have allocated in the economic action plan $25 million more in order to specifically deal with the issue of aboriginal murdered and missing women, because it is a top priority.