Thank you, MP Roberts, for shedding light on the services we provide.
The topic of perpetrators and where they should be is an important one to talk about. When they are caught, perpetrators should get a full sentence. They should not be jeopardizing the well-being of survivors, who are now going to go to a shelter where they can feel safe and comfortable in order to get back into life and onto the road to recovery.
When I say “full sentence”, I mean that perpetrators need to be charged $200,000, or whatever, and then they should remain in jail—no parole, no bail. The charges that are put on the perpetrators should go directly back to the shelter. There should be strict punishments for the perpetrators, without letting them go after two weeks or a month and having women feeling unsafe. It's important that they get the full sentence.
Also, the government is looking for innovative ways to look after the population. What more can be done than to bring the women back to employability? Train them. Don't just keep them in shelters, and then ask what is next. Women are still feeling lost. As soon as a woman is registered in a shelter, she should go through training. There's a long list of skilled trades that are available to women. They can choose what suits them and then go through the training. Unions are willing to work. Colleges and universities are willing to provide training to women. Unions have training centres with child care systems in place to help women focus on training to build their skills.
This is a very innovative way in the long run. It helps the government. It gives a return to the government on the initial investment in shelters to expand and increase the number of shelters so that there is no waiting for women and their children.
It will certainly help women who are fleeing from violence. As soon as they have space in a shelter, they can build their skills, and they can then work and build the lives of their children, rather than feeling that sense of homelessness or of not having a goal or knowing where to go next. We need to provide that space for women.