Mr. Speaker, November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month and New Democrats are incredibly disheartened by the Conservative government's failure to address violence against women.
A year after the United Nations CEDAW report made recommendations that Canada do more to protect women from violence, we have seen little action. The report chastised the federal government for failing to fully investigate missing and murdered aboriginal women. It also called on the federal government to fully fund women's shelters and other support services and, finally, the report called on the federal government to further protect victims of domestic violence.
The women and children of this nation have the right to expect safety and security in their communities, and they have a right to expect the government to uphold that safety. Instead, the Conservatives have taken key steps to eradicate the voices of women in this country. They have stopped funding and have wiped out many organizations that lobbied and assisted women in the fight against violence against women.
This action has had a silencing effect on women's voices and has limited the ability of women to lobby for the adequate support—