Mr. Speaker, this is an emergency statement. I have circulated to the Members of this House a copy of the interim report of the R.C.M.P. Public Complaints Commission hearing into the treatment of Kitty Nowdluk Reynolds. This interim report follows a hearing held in Iqaluit last March, over a period of seven days. The commission panel was chaired by Alan Williams, the former Attorney General of British Columbia, and included Lazarus Arreak of the Northwest Territories and Jane Evans. I am pleased that the interim report has been made public at this time. Under the provisions of the R.C.M.P. Act, the report must be sent in its interim form to the Commissioner of the R.C.M.P. and to the federal Solicitor General.

The R.C.M.P. Commissioner is obliged to consider the report and to advise what, if any, further action will be taken with respect to the complaints. Moreover, if the Commissioner decides not to act on any findings or recommendations set out in the interim report, he must give reasons for not taking action. Following this process the Chair of the Complaints Commission will prepare a final report setting out the findings and the recommendations it has made, presumably taking into account the response, if any, of the Commissioner of the R.C.M.P.

Because the process is not complete, it is premature for me to make more than preliminary comments at this time. However, I believe I can say that I am pleased with the extensive discussion of the facts and circumstances, and the detailed recommendations put forward for response by the R.C.M.P. The report pulls no punches in its criticism of the treatment of Kitty Nowdluk Reynolds by the criminal justice system, in which the report acknowledges the R.C.M.P. play such a dominant role. It is also very encouraging to see that the report stresses the need for victim services throughout the criminal justice process, something which you have heard me say on a number of occasions since taking on the Justice portfolio, and something you will hear more about in the future.

Mr. Speaker, finally I note in passing that with the encouragement of our government, the federal prosecutor's offices in Yellowknife and Iqaluit now have victim witness assistance to provide some measure of services for persons in the position that Kitty Nowdluk Reynolds was in. As well, through funding support from the Department of Justice, the Victim Services Program is now available within the R.C.M.P. offices in Yellowknife. I look forward, with interest, to the timely response of the Commissioner of the R.C.M.P. to the findings and recommendations made in this interim report. Mahsi.