Hon. Mary Coyle: Welcome to the Senate, minister. Minister, as you have just mentioned, today you announced the appointment of Justice Oland as chair of the committee that will monitor and report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission. We welcome this move. My question for you is this: Will the government support the calls of the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission and the inquest into the Renfrew County killings to declare gender-based violence an epidemic-level crisis in Canada and, most importantly, create a comprehensive strategy at the federal level to address this problem?

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: I want to thank you, senator, for recognizing the significance of the announcement and the appointment of Justice Oland as the chair of the committee that will oversee and coordinate the implementation of the recommendations of the final report, in particular, for the families.

I do agree that we have to deal squarely with the incredible and alarming challenges around gender-based violence which the committee thoughtfully touched on. This is work I am doing in partnership with a number of other colleagues including, I would point out, Minister Marci Ien, who is rolling out an over $600‑million national gender-based violence strategy to work closely with women’s groups on the ground so we can take a trauma-informed, victim-centred approach to reduce barriers.

I think you will agree one of the most challenging aspects of this work is to encourage women to come forward and report, and the concern I have heard is that they are worried that the voice on the other end of the line will not believe them, or will not treat them with respect. That is what has led to tragedy and loss. I assure you that as we implement the recommendations of the Mass Casualty Commission we will work with Justice Oland, with the Nova Scotia government, victims and survivors from that tragedy and all women who have suffered that trauma in the past.