Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in December 1990 Katherine Peterson was given a 16 month mandate to examine criminal justice and family law in the Northwest Territories, and to recommend changes that would make the justice system more responsive to women.

In the preparation of this report the special advisor travelled to all regions of the territories to conduct public workshops and public meetings. A broad variety of women and men of all ages participated in this process. The special advisors also met with representatives of agencies involved in the administration of justice, including the R.C.M.P., Crown prosecutors, members of the judiciary and officials from the Departments of Justice and Social Services. This report is the result of those extensive consultations. It contains 90 recommendations covering many areas and directed at various departments and organizations. In the report, the special advisor makes the point that women and aboriginal people were not involved in the development of the rules that govern our current system of administration of justice. As a result, the system does not always reflect the values and perspectives of those who were not consulted in the designing of "The Justice House". This important point has been brought home forcefully and eloquently on many occasions by statements made in this Assembly by Members of this committee.

The most important message in this report is that women must be treated with respect. This report contains a great number of suggestions on how to make changes to the Justice system so that women are treated with respect, so that their concerns are heard and so that women are no longer ignored as they so often have been in the past. Changes are needed in all parts of the justice system. Many of these parts are beyond the direct control of a territorial Minister of Justice. Many recommendations are directed at agencies outside this government. For example, ten recommendations are aimed at the Department of Justice, Canada. Seven are directed at the R.C.M.P. Others are directed at the Law Society or the Canadian Bar Association. These are being passed on to those agencies with every encouragement to receive the recommendations favourably and to act on them positively.

Sixteen recommendations directly affect the courts. These recommendations must be dealt with in a manner that fully respects the independence of the judiciary, while at the same time ensuring that the courts are given the encouragement and the tools to reflect community values.

Other recommendations require the cooperation of other departments. Thirteen recommendations involve the Department of Social Services, four involve the Department of Education and two involve the Department of Health. Officials from the Department of Justice are currently engaged in discussions with other departments on the implementation of recommendations. There must also be extensive consultation with women's organizations across the territories. When women in the north have contact with the justice system, they almost always do so as victims of violence. We are all more aware of the reality of violence against women as we approach the anniversary of the Montreal massacre.

Violence against women, as has been pointed out by Members of this House, has reached epidemic proportions in the territories. This situation gave to a recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance in September, that the Department of Justice develop a pro-active plan or strategy to address violence. Many of the key elements of that strategy are contained in the report of the special advisor. This would include such things as a major public awareness campaign directed at changing attitudes about violence against women.

The report also recommends counselling programs for abusive men. Another element of the strategy will be the provision of training to Justice personnel so that they better understand the situation and perspective of women, particularly when they are dealing with cases of sexual assault and wife assault. The department is working on the development of training materials. This exercise will involve the cooperation of other agencies and departments. The recommendations of the special advisor come to us at a time when major innovations to the administration of justice are under way. These innovations are aimed at encouraging community members to assume a greater role in solving problems in their communities. In this way, those people who have been left out of the development of this system will have an opportunity to solve problems in a manner that they think is appropriate.

As we embark on this process, it is essential that we ensure the full participation of women. Women have participated actively in our discussions in communities. Their voices must continue to be heard. We must seek their help and advice and full involvement as the input of women in these innovations is key to their success.

Another important area of recommendations concerns the provisions of services to victims. The special advisor recommends that these services are community based and culturally relevant. The mandate of these services should be developed at the community level. These recommendations are consistent with the approach that the department is taking in the development of community justice initiatives. Much work remains to be done in this area. This is necessarily a long-term undertaking, and the assistance of other levels of government will have to be sought.

A number of the recommendations address the need to make justice more accessible to women. Several of these have been acted on by the department, and proposed legislative changes are in the works. For example, I will be bringing forward a legislative proposal to change the Limitation of Actions Act so that women who have been sexually assaulted are not barred from suing their assailant because they are unable to start proceedings soon enough after the assault. This measure recognizes that women are often severely traumatized by sexual assault, especially when the assault is perpetrated by a family member.

I will also be recommending to Cabinet, legislative changes to allow common-law spouses access to support from their former partners. The current legislation is inadequate and does not recognize the large number of common-law relationships in the territories. I propose to address this problem right away. The special advisor recommends the extension of the victim impact statement pilot project to communities across the territories. I believe that this recommendation was made before it became apparent that this program was not working as well as we might have hoped. An evaluation of the pilot project is necessary before any decisions are made. It may well be, as an honourable Member has suggested, that the program will work best in communities where there are well supported victims. It may also be that the aboriginal ethic of non-interference and the desire to restore harmony has not been taken into account in this program. An evaluation, the terms of which are currently being drawn up, will help provide us with the answers. I am pleased to have this opportunity today to discuss this report with Members of the committee.

Many of the recommendations are already being actively pursued by the Department of Justice, both directly and with other players in the justice system. I believe we will benefit greatly from the advice and guidance of the Legislative Assembly as we embark on the legislative and financial initiatives which we will ultimately need to review and consider.

We are fortunate today to have as a witness, Ms. Katherine Peterson, the author of the report. She will be able to help us in our discussions on this report. I will invite Ms. Peterson to join us as a witness so Members may have some discussion, exchange of views and be able to ask her some questions. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to have as a witness for us today, Ms. Katherine Peterson, Special Advisor on Gender Equality.