Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take the opportunity today to respond to the Minister of Justice, Minister Allen's statement on family violence legislation because I think it is important to do so, Mr. Speaker.

I think what we've seen here today is a perfect example that our form of government, the consensus form of government, can work, and the next time somebody asks me about consensus and its advantages. I'm going to point to today because I truly believe that what we've seen here is an example of a Minister who understands, Mr. Speaker, what leadership is all about and has always been one that said, listen, I really want to get this job done, I want to roll up my sleeves and do good things, my door is open and if you have suggestions and ideas and priorities that you want to see hit the floor, come and talk to me. This Minister understood that family violence legislation was a key priority for this House and he is willing to work with us in order to get that done.

There are a million and one reasons why this might not have happened. There are consultation concerns, given the amount of time we have left, Mr. Speaker. There are resource concerns that will require additional resources. There is no shortage of reasons why this could have failed but this Minister wouldn't let it fail and I think that really isn't much of a surprise, given this Minister's track record.

We look at the Human Rights Act. This Minister was key in delivering on that piece of legislation and he got done by being willing to work with the standing committee behind the scenes, making sure that if we had suggestions coming from the public, that we were going to make this thing better. Well, he was going to get them done and get them implemented.

If you look at housing bridge financing, a recent program, the Minister was able to get the program raised from $10 million to $30 million, but still the criteria weren't adequate to allow people to access this money. A number of Members sat down with the Minister, raised this point and he said, well, you know I didn't come up with this program because I didn't want it to work so let's sit down and talk about how we can make this thing work. He has done that and now when we look at family violence legislation, he said, and I will quote, "We can do it and we can do it well, Mr. Speaker, if we have the cooperation and assistance of all Members of this House." Mr. Speaker, that is leadership. I think Minister Allen is demonstrating that here for us today. I am very proud of the work he is doing and I hope my colleagues will join me in thanking him.

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