Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in honour of Family Violence Awareness Week, I would like to make somewhat of a personal statement on this very important issue.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I tabled a copy of the transcript of an interview given by our Premier to CBC on the family violence awareness campaign. It is a personal account of his own awareness of the impact of family violence on our people. I am hoping that more people will take a look at it now that it has been tabled.
In particular, Mr. Speaker, there was one section in that interview that jolted me out of complacency and made me feel the need to speak today. It goes like this, and I quote:
"I always remember the first year I was married. I moved to Good Hope. At one point, my niece -- who was 12 at that time -- in a private moment with my wife, asked her if I beat her. My wife was very shocked about it, and she said no, of course not. My niece got up and said, well, he will."
This is exactly the same conversation I once had back in 1988 when I was in university in Ottawa and my younger sister was newly married to a Korean-Canadian. A friend of mine from the university, a young male student who was also Korean-Canadian, asked me if my brother-in-law was beating up my sister. I said of course not, and he said well, he will.
Mr. Speaker, I also come from a culture where some people think it is okay for the powerful to abuse and violate the safety of the powerless. I have had to learn to say no, it is not okay. I shall continue to say it out loud until it is stopped.
Just another personal note to conclude my point, Mr. Speaker. A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by CBC on this important issue. At the time, I must admit I had doubts myself as to whether or not I could really make a difference simply by making a statement in this House. After all, they are just words. What difference could they make?
Any doubt I might have had evaporated when I heard the words of another interviewee in the same piece. As a victim of family violence herself, she made it clear how important it was for her to have MLAs and other political leaders say out loud that they believe in and practice zero tolerance against violence, and that it goes a long way to create awareness of this problem.
Mr. Speaker, it is true that the government has a big role to play in making more financial resources...