Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes for the motion, and I speak as the seconder of this motion in support of this motion. Mr. Speaker, I support this motion for two reasons. One is, by the motion of censure it publicly states that we do not approve of what the Premier said in the media about the issue of sexual abuse. The second part of the motion, Mr. Speaker, sends a strong statement by the Members of this House that we would like the Premier and the government to help us move beyond this unfortunate incident and make sure something positive comes out of it. This motion does this by making recommendations to the government on what it can do in terms of policies and programs to address the very real and urgent needs of the survivors of sexual abuse.
Mr. Speaker, we know, without a doubt, so much of our substance issues, abuse, violence, FASD and parental issues, so much pain and suffering in our communities stem from sexual abuse by persons, institutions and, in many cases, victims becoming abusers. We, as a society, are constantly dealing with the aftermath from the fallout of this dark legacy.
Mr. Speaker, it's important to note that this motion does not go anywhere near asking for the Premier's removal. I have never sought this option inside this House or outside. What I hope to do, and what I believe this motion is doing, is to do right by the survivors of sexual abuse in our midst everywhere in the North.
Mr. Speaker, this House, in the past, has removed a Member for offending Newfoundlanders and a conduct unbecoming of a Member in public places. Just last week, we removed a Member from Cabinet for offending a Member and his family, for what he said off the record, even though a genuine and sincere apology was offered. Mr. Speaker, the important question before us is who among us are willing to step up to the plate and speak for the survivors of sexual abuse. Are we not supposed to place the Premier in a higher standard than any other Member or Cabinet Minister? Mr. Speaker, is it not the least we can do, as a self-policing body, on behalf of, if no one else, the survivors of sexual abuse? Mr. Speaker, if we do not, are we worthy of being the only Legislature in the land who declared so proudly last summer that May 26th be the official Day of Reconciliation for the Sexual Abuse Victims of Residential School?
Mr. Speaker, as a Member of this House with the privilege to vote and speak to this motion, I am voting for and speaking on behalf of sexual abuse survivors and victims I know. I'm speaking for two sisters I went to junior and high school with in Yellowknife. They're my age. They were abused by a family friend of their parents. Five years ago they came out and they told the court what happened to them. They were not believed and the man got off. After that, another woman came out and the same man got a house arrest. Then another victim came out after that, and finally the man is going to see some jail time. Mr. Speaker, I have to ask you, why is it so hard for us to believe sexual abuse victims who were once children?
I'm voting today, Mr. Speaker, for an aboriginal man who came and told me that when the settlement of residential school victims were announced by the federal government, he felt finally like he was believed, and then when he heard what the Premier said, he said he was kicked in the stomach once again.
Mr. Speaker, I'm also voting for two Annies from Nunavut that I know who live here. The senior Annie is an abused victim and who works tirelessly on behalf of others who are victims. I am speaking up for a junior Annie who told me, in tears, who told in one of the gatherings for victims of violence about how she suffered family violence all her life, and so much pain and suffering which ended with blood and brain matter of one of her family members dripping on the street, and she was touching it and she was crying, and this was as a result of another drunken rage that I believe could only come from the kind of abuse that our people have gone through.
Mr. Speaker, our task in preventing further abuse and at the same time standing up and speaking out for the silent victims and survivors out there continues, and we must be relentless in this regard. The victims and survivors are watching us and I ask this House to do the right thing by supporting this motion, to say we don't agree, we know it's wrong what the Premier said, and that we will call the Premier and the government to task by making a very strong recommendation to follow up on his apology with concrete actions stated in this motion on behalf of all of the victims and survivors of sexual abuse in the North. Mr. Speaker, I ask for support of this motion from all the Members and I ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.
---Applause