Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In November, 1992, the RCMP Complaints Commission released a report on the complaints laid against the RCMP by Kitty Nowdluk Reynolds. I am sure no one in this House will forget the heart-wrenching story of the abuse and humiliation that this sexual assault victim suffered at the hands of the Northwest Territories justice system.
The RCMP Complaints Commission report makes it very clear, for anyone who may have doubted, that our justice system is failing the needs of the victims. The system simply does not care.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the report has exposed some of the lack of consideration and insensitivity that victims have to face, especially when they happen to be women of aboriginal descent.
Mr. Speaker, the process took far too long. Kitty Nowdluk Reynolds was assaulted in her home in June of 1990. Her ordeal at the hands of the criminal justice system continued through August and September of 1990. She complained, by letter, to the RCMP in October of 1990, yet the commission to inquire into the complaints was not constituted until January of 1992, nearly one and a half years later. By the time the report was issued, over two and a half years had passed since the incident occurred. Mr. Speaker, this delay demonstrates that the rights of victims do not have any priority. This attitude must change.
I also have serious reservations about the process used to inquire into the treatment of Ms. Nowdluk Reynolds. The justice system is failing miserably to meet the needs of aboriginal people. I do not think anyone needs to read the formal report to recognize that. The review of the system, once again, uses an adversarial court like process. This is not the aboriginal way to resolve issues. As my honourable colleague for Baffin Central pointed out to the former...