Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this Assembly and this government has done a number of things over the past few years to lend support to families in distress. Mr. Speaker, we have passed the Family Violence Protection Act and we are engaged in a number of programs such as those that assist communities in avoiding and eliminating elder abuse.

Mr. Speaker, one of the consequences of relationships is that occasionally families break down. I am not here to judge or lecture about this, but to look at what government can do to help in these circumstances. Mr. Speaker, what aspects of our social services network come into play and where can they be relied on to help?

We have, of course, a network of mental health workers across our communities. We fund a number of different agencies that are involved in front-line family counselling. Mr. Speaker, although they are distinct and separate from the legislative division, there are the courts. Regrettably, in many cases when families break down, they are a last resort for couples seeking to resolve difficult relationships. This is the last avenue available to these people, Mr. Speaker.

So when the situation gets to that extent, I would really like to look for ways that agencies such as our courts, our social services organizations, can enable those families to maintain relationships, to continue on with lives and not to have barriers and roadblocks put up by bureaucracies, by administrations and by the courts as they implement the laws that we put before them.

This is a plea that I have heard from a number of people, a number of constituents, that we see in our communities. Mr. Speaker it's especially evident with the number of children in care in many of our communities. This is an area that we cannot allow to slide, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

---Applause