Welcome to the 36th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Today is a great day for us because we are starting a new study as a result of a motion passed in the House of Commons.
Together, we are going to examine promising practices to prevent violence against women. In order to prevent violence against women, we want to include both the practices that are already in place and promising new ones. The title, in fact, allows us not only to examine all the practices in place, but also those that could be put in place in the future.
Today, we are pleased to welcome Linda Savoie, from Status of Women Canada. She is the Senior Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate.
From the Public Health Agency of Canada, we welcome Kimberly Elmslie, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch.
From the Department of Justice, we welcome Pamela Arnott, Director and Senior Counsel, Policy Centre for Victim Issues, and Gillian Blackwell, Senior Counsel and Coordinator, Children's Law and Family Violence Policy Unit.
From Statistics Canada, we have with us Kathy AuCoin, Chief, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, and Cathy Connors, Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Thanks to all of you for coming here and for preparing the documents that all the committee members already have in their possession. The analysts have not prepared briefing notes, given that we have people from the departments with us. The same will be true for the next meeting. For the third meeting, the analysts will prepare documentation to assist committee members.
I extend an official welcome to John Barlow, who today becomes a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Welcome and thank you for being here.