Thank you, Madam Chair.
I've listened with great interest to all of the witnesses today, particularly when they talk about access to justice. I worked as a family law lawyer. I worked in a legal clinic where we helped women who were fleeing violence, and the discussions we had back then, I think, are probably similar to what we're having now, about how women are accessing justice and how the justice system serves them so that they feel confident that they're going to get a result that is fair. Unfortunately, we have a lot of work to do there.
What I would like to ask is particularly with respect to the nexus between family courts and criminal courts, and maybe I'll direct the question to Ms. Boyce and Ms. MacGregor, if you'd like to answer.
There were experiences I had where there was a pilot program in Toronto. They were doing a combined family and criminal court pilot, because we were finding that women were trying to get peace bonds or restraining orders in the criminal courts, and then in the family court a judge would make an order for child visitations where dad would be coming to pick up the kids right at the house, and that would put them in very close proximity to each other.
Unfortunately, the pilot didn't really take off, because lawyers in the criminal bar were concerned that it might prejudice their clients. They were doing their job, representing the interests of their clients that way, but perhaps you could comment on the role you see the federal government playing in making access to justice more realistic and more service-facing to the women you serve.