Mr. Chair, I would be happy to answer that question. In my time working as a nurse in these communities, rather unfortunately on occasion, I have witnessed first-hand and have had a ringside seat to unfortunate acts of family violence. I have seen first-hand at two or three o'clock in the morning, when it is minus 30° or minus 40°, an unfortunate act of violence committed to a woman and have seen her at the front door of that nursing station with her small children.
It was shocking then and it is shocking now that as a matter of justice and a matter of access to justice, they do not have the right to protect themselves in situations of violence or, as the member points out, in the dissolution of a marriage.
The bill does not propose anything more than providing access and the same rights and protections on reserve that are already available to individuals living off reserves under provincial and territorial legislation.