With respect, the reason this bill has been tabled and why we've interrupted our other study to study this, and the reason this is top-of-the-fold in headlines day after day is that we have a problem in our country. There is a gap that needs to be filled and, respectfully, I would suggest more community involvement, more transparency, and more engagement. The NGOs are very good at sorting things out amongst themselves. They won't be offended if all 63 are not included. There is certainly an appetite, and I would commend their experience to all of your organizations.
I did get some feedback this past week in my riding from one of the domestic assault support groups when they saw the headline that the new federal funding would go to video training of judges and videocasts on sexual assault trials—which, as Ms. Kent says, “will be put on our website, thereby making them available to all Canadian judges.” One of the executive directors said, “I wouldn't train my staff with a video.” She was very concerned that this was where the money would go.
Can you tell me more? Will you go beyond a videocast on a website? Is this something that the judges do on their own time, in their own offices? Is there some kind of review afterwards to identify whether the content has been absorbed? Is there some kind of mandatory education? Assure me that this isn't the end of the road.