This is page numbers 5179 – 5220 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was services.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect, I do thank the Minister for that, but we spend tens of thousands on rebate programs for appliances. We’ve spent tens of millions trying to figure out what we’re going to do next. You know what? I might just add up the costs just to make my point, but I can’t do that right here right now.

I’d like to ask the Minister if we could not please find some money to do some more. He suggests switch out to all the LEDs. I’d like to switch out heating appliances or put dual heating systems in every home in the Northwest Territories where the homeowner or the occupant would like to subscribe to it. Could we please make that a priority legacy of this 17th Assembly?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

When I talk about tens of thousands for the commercial application, for an individual application there is a significant five digit amount of money that is potentially available for a business wanting to change their appliances at a commercial level.

Once again, the issue that the Member raises is one that we can look at. The big issue we’re going to have is once our fiscal situation becomes clearer, then we can have a much more informed and meaningful discussion. Right now, we’ve just gone through the capital plan, we’ve just gone through and we’re working on finalizing the business plans for the upcoming O and M budget, and the Member knows that our fiscal circumstances are constrained and every cent we have is spoken for. We’ve taken a bit of a pillaring here in the Legislature about the fact that our $100 million cushion is actually only about $96 million. It’s a concern to us all, so we want to be very careful about any further expenditures until we know what our borrowing limit is going to be.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The time for oral questions has expired. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “2013-2014 Grants and Contributions Results Report.”

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following report, entitled “Strategic Action Plan 2014-2019, Finance.”

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Nutritional Fact Sheet Series.”

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table documents calling for the Government of the Northwest Territories to request an inquiry into the missing and murdered indigenous Aboriginal women, documents from the Native Women’s Association of the Northwest Territories, the NWT Metis Nation, the Salt River First Nation, grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations, Chief Frank Andrew of Tulita and the Canadian Public Health Association executive director statement to this issue here.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I hereby table the 2013-2014 Annual Report of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Pursuant to Section 68 of the Access to Information and the Protection of Privacy Act, I wish to table the 2013-2014 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

Item 15, notices of motion. Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, November 6, 2014, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the government introduce legislation that will establish an ombudsman as an independent and non-partisan statutory officer;

And further, that the government, in designing their corporate legislation, refer to the report produced by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and work closely with the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly to examine the options of both a stand-alone office and one that might combine with another statutory office;

And further, that the government provide a response to this motion within 120 days.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, November 6, 2014, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 4, 2015;

And further, that any time prior to February 4, 2015, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS Aboriginal women are at greater risk of violence as evidenced by the recent RCMP report that documented 1,017 Aboriginal female homicide victims and 164 missing Aboriginal females between 1980 and 2012;

AND WHEREAS the number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada is disproportionately high and unacceptable;

AND WHEREAS the Native Women’s Association of Canada Sisters in Spirit campaign found 582 cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women between 1980 and 2012;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP’s 2014 study found that 47 out of 50 women murdered in the Northwest Territories between 1980 and 2012 were Aboriginal;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP’s 2014 study confirmed that the Northwest Territories has three unsolved cases of murdered Aboriginal women and three unsolved cases of missing Aboriginal women;

AND WHEREAS, for numerous and complex reasons, including historical trauma and current socio-economic conditions, Canadian Aboriginal women are at greater risk and are more vulnerable and at risk of being exploited;

AND WHEREAS Canadian national Aboriginal organizations are leading the calls for a national inquiry and a national roundtable into missing and murdered Aboriginal girls and have asked for Canadian Premiers’ support;

AND WHEREAS Canadian Premiers supported the national Aboriginal organizations’ call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls and a national roundtable;

AND WHEREAS Canadian Premiers supported the national Aboriginal organizations’ invitation to the Prime Minister to take part in a roundtable discussion about murdered and missing Aboriginal women;

AND WHEREAS all levels of government are working to take action to prevent further violence against Aboriginal women and girls and the national roundtable as proposed by the national Aboriginal organizations will be an opportunity for a coordinated national dialogue;

AND WHEREAS the Native Women’s Association of Canada and the other national Aboriginal organizations have asked Premier McLeod to work

with them to facilitate the development of a national roundtable;

AND WHEREAS the rates of violence against Aboriginal women and girls are unacceptable to this Assembly and to the people of the NWT;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the 17th Legislative Assembly supports the national Aboriginal organizations’ call for a national inquiry and a national roundtable into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls;

AND FURTHER, that this Assembly supports a national roundtable on missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls to have a national dialogue that will allow all levels of government to work together to identify concrete outcomes that will prevent further violence against Aboriginal women and girls;

AND FURTHER, that this Assembly supports the efforts of the Premier of the Northwest Territories to help the national Aboriginal organizations facilitate the development of a national roundtable;

AND FURTHER, that this Assembly urges Premier McLeod to continue his dialogue with the federal government on the proposed roundtable and report back to this House as progress is made;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Premier of the Northwest Territories transmit a copy of this motion to all his provincial and territorial counterparts with the request for their consideration of support for a similar House motion.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin to my prepared comments, I want to say thanks to many people who have provided some inspiration and insight to help me do this. This was not done alone and there are some special people I wish to thank. Although I don’t have time today to thank them all, I do want to give acknowledgement to Nola Nallugiak, Marie Speakman, Terry Villeneuve, Paulina Roche, Della Green, and although there are many more, there is one in particular I do want to mention and a special thanks to Besha Blondin, a special lady in my life and many of the lives of our Members here.

Without their inspiration and support, it makes it tough to make a motion that is written right and the right direction. You want a motion that is meaningful because this is an important issue.

This is more than an important issue. I want to stress that in a lot of ways this is a tragedy. We must do all we can to help solve this problem. By doing nothing, in some ways I would point it as we are allowing this tragedy to continue.

I read this motion today and I am very proud to be what I like to think is trying to fight to find a solution.

I do this because I believe in the hope that we can do more.

Thinking about this issue, to be honest, actually causes me great pain. I grew up in Fort Simpson and I often think to myself: could this have been a friend of mine or could this have been my friend’s mother, could it have been a sister? It actually does cause me great pain because I know one of the ladies on the list – I grew up with her – who has been lost in the Northwest Territories.

This motion gives me hope because I believe as many Members here will say today, I think, that they too will support a solution. We must find a way. As a Canadian, I really believe we can do more and, as a person, sometimes this makes me mad, but I am also hopeful, as I have said. I think everyone should be a little upset about this issue, if not furious, because this is an important one.

I know I don’t stand alone and I do think about those lost souls, those families that have struggled through this and every day they continue to struggle. Although they may not have a candle in their window, hoping their loved one will come home, they do in their hearts.

Why isn’t more being done? I want to give credit to our Premier because he certainly does deserve credit. He will be leading our national dialogue on this one, and with his vision and his ability, I am sure we will get far. I welcome the first step of what I hope is many steps. Again that gives me hope.

Many people out there who I have talked to have lost loved ones and they want more to be done. Wouldn’t you want more to be done if this was your family member? Wouldn’t you want more to be done if this was a friend of yours? Do you not think these people deserve dignity? I think of the great opportunity that this provides. This is not just about blaming people or blaming the system, blaming the police or blaming the government, but what this is, is pause for us to say to ourselves, we could do more.

I believe in the system and I believe the system can do more. This is about respect that we should have. Did people lose respect somewhere along the way? I have always been taught that people should be born and given respect, and we must find every way to lend strength to that. That respect should never end. This motion is part of the solution. It may not be the only solution because I know that there will be more. But this motion is about speaking loud, clearly, saying that action must be taken.

So many Aboriginal women and girls have been unfairly targeted. The statistics point that way and they are very clear. They are clearly in contrast to other statistics and it causes people like myself to wonder why. This is not fair. These women, these girls, these families deserve more, they deserve our collective support.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident, I am hopeful my Members and my colleagues will be in favour of course.

In August our Premier was part of a collaboration of other Premiers that called upon Ottawa to act. We need to find ways for our Premier to keep that going forward. I certainly will be standing on every call of action he needs support with.

This helps keep their spirits alive. There may be loved ones gone, and in some cases we may not know where those loved ones are, but their spirits will always be with us. I strongly believe these women deserve more and these families deserve more.

We need an inquiry that drills down and is honest about the problem. Is the situation, as we know now, honest? I am not saying in the context of being dishonest, I’m just saying have we brought the true facts, the true stories and the scenarios together and looked at ourselves and said, have we done enough? Has the system done enough?

We cannot let these Aboriginal women and girls to be targeted in this way and stand with inaction. We must find ways to be relentless for them. That’s why we’re here. We’re not here as legislators, we are here as people, we are here as family members, we are here as friends. A roundtable I welcome. It is a first step, and I would describe it as a first step in a journey that will lead to a better solution.

There are those who may say this may cost too much. I will respect them by saying there will be a cost, let us not be fooled, but is the cost too great by not doing this? Is the cost too great to those who have lost so much?

I recall many moments in my life where I have been taught about equality in Canada. It all started at my home and by my friends, all shared throughout here. Are we demonstrating equality by not supporting this? Are we demonstrating equality in the best way we can? We must do this. We have to do this.

The reality is we do this sometimes not because it’s easy but because it’s hard. I don’t expect the answers to be simple. These women, as I have said, are people. They have been personally attacked. We must end this ignorance of letting this happen. We must find ways.

I believe Canadians deserve more and I believe our government can do more. When I mean our government, I am talking about the Canadian government because I know our government will do what it can. This is a disgraceful and objectionable situation on every level.

When I read the statistics that five times the number of Aboriginal women attacked and killed and murdered than non-Aboriginal women, it makes my gut feel terrible. It makes me think, how can this

happen to a group of women and there not be a national crisis and people screaming, what’s going on? We are hearing voices, but we must now raise them to the level of Ottawa and ask the other Premiers to support this.

Because, Mr. Speaker, these are women, they deserve more; these are girls, they deserve more. Not one of them is anonymous. In some way, some of them were mothers, sisters, daughters, friends.

This motion is about a future, though. Don’t let those mothers, sisters, daughters and friends be lost. This is about trying to find a way we can do more. This is for the families. This motion is for the living. This is for the future for that young unborn girl that we want to know she has a safe life ahead of her and to know she is going to be treated and respected.

The system may not be working perfectly and some will say it may have been failing, but we could do more. As I said, it is not about blaming others, but the numbers say something is wrong and we must do all we can. The numbers tell the true story. If we have them in front of us, I think everyone else will be upset, if not angry and mad.

How deep is this problem? We must do the work to turn the page to find out how deep it is, not ignoring it, but confronting it. I hope this isn’t a problem based simply on culture because I do not find that acceptable in any way. These are people. I would expect something more if it was my family member, and I don’t blame every single person out there who expects more as well. In some ways it disturbs me.

There are ample reasons why we must do things in life, and today I think this is a historic moment where we can all get behind and say something more must be done. Loved ones have been lost and their future has been robbed from them. Hoping they will come back can’t always carry the day. We can try to prevent further tragedies by doing more.

I’m going to close my opening comments, but I will say, it would be a mistake not to mention that many Aboriginal men have been lost too. We must be asking ourselves, have we done enough. An inquiry might not be the easiest way to do this, but I think it’s one of the ways to bring significant change and that’s why it’s so important, that we have to create change by doing something. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I’ll allow the seconder to the motion, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Hawkins for bringing this motion to the floor today.

I really thought about this motion for some time. When I went back to Tulita and I thought about this, I had kind of a sad feeling and a sick feeling because one of the people that we’re talking about

in the Northwest Territories is a family member of mine here in Yellowknife who was killed and still today we don’t know what happened. The family doesn’t know what happened.

So, before I could say anything, I had to sit down with the father and it was very, very scary because you don’t know what the father will say or what will come out in conversation, because I wanted to do this. I had some time with the father and I said, this is what we’re planning to do and I might talk about cousins and daughters, and the father said, with tears in his eyes, he said, “Be good.” I said, “Well, how is it you’re dealing with this?” “Every night,” he says, “I keep waiting for her to come home. I still don’t know what happened and the RCMP are not really keeping me up to date, so I don’t know.” So, I’m sitting there and he’s sitting there, and I can imagine the father sitting there every night going to bed wondering what happened to his daughter. That, Mr. Speaker, really put a sense of how real this issue is.

These are people in our communities, people we may have known, friends you have who have known these people. These are real people and it’s happened right across Canada. No territory has been untouched by this issue, from the Far North to the east coast to the west coast to the southern borders of Canada or worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve tabled a bunch of support letters from grand chiefs, Metis presidents, women’s organizations and associations, even the Public Health Association of Canada saying we’ve got to do something. So there’s a call. There’s a lonely, lonely call being gathered in Canada, making one strong voice, saying we need to know why, we need to look at this.

The Northwest Territories has always been trailbreakers, and there’s no exception here with our Premier taking the lead in the roundtable, a trailbreaker. A true northern Aboriginal trailbreaker. We deal with the wilderness and you break trail. We did it with the birthplace of ice hockey. We did it with residential schools. There are many more, if you check history and the Hansard of this government, trail-breaking, and it’s not a glorified, easy task. It’s a tough task. But you know what? We’re a tough government, and it’s for that I stand behind this Premier on these issues here. He has my full support sitting at that roundtable, getting the people together, saying okay, we have an issue here. That is important because when the Premier sits, he looks across and says, yes, someone’s been touched in the Northwest Territories, in this Assembly.

So I urge the Premier to push on with this urgent issue. Push on, don’t give up, Bob. I’m sorry, Mr. Premier.

The motion talks about 47 of the 50 women that have been murdered in the Northwest Territories

over the past 32 years. While we realize a majority of the missing and murdered population are Aboriginal, it touches everybody, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal because they’ve got friends too and they may have partners. This cannot continue. It tears at the cultural fabric of our communities and our regions. Not one region has been left untouched from this tragedy.

I want to thank again the Member for Yellowknife Centre for working with me on this motion. It shows that if we believe something, we’ll gladly say whatever we need to say in whatever means you have to do it, public statements, Member’s statements or the media because it gives people hope, hope that we as Members of the Legislative Assembly, the lawmakers of the Northwest Territories, are listening and want to do something about this. We have heard the call, find out what’s happening to the Aboriginal women, why are they missing, why are they being murdered. This is not okay in Canada, this is not okay in the Northwest Territories.

No gender is more revered than our female Aboriginal women. They are the givers of our children, grandchildren, our family, but somehow that’s been lost. This is not about gender against gender or one creed versus another; this is about humanity. This is about who we are as legislators, bringing the humanity back into government and saying that you matter.

I also wanted to say mahsi cho to the Native Women’s Association of Canada. I want to say mahsi to Ms. Pauline Roach from Deline, who is also president of the Native Women’s Association of the Northwest Territories, and her executive director. Also, mahsi to Ms. Villebrun who sits on the Assembly of First Nation Women’s committee. Hats off to Ms. Lorraine Phaneuf and her board, sorry if I’ve said your last name incorrectly, at the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, also the Sisters in Spirit movement and the Walking with our Sisters community groups from across Canada. They are the ones who are really leading the charge.

Just think if it wasn’t for our women, or our mothers, our aunties, grandmothers, we would not be here. No wonder we call it Mother Earth and Father Sun. As I said, I’ve personally been affected by it, my mother has been affected by it. My mother’s older sister was murdered in Edmonton a long, long time ago and they haven’t found the person to this day. So it not only happened a couple of years ago, it happened a long, long time ago. My mom is way over 70.

Like I said, I want to thank the honourable Premier Bob McLeod for assuming the lead on this issue at the Council of the Federation. The Premiers from across the land, I urge you strongly not to give up, keep rallying for this roundtable to be built, to be

seated and to know that the women out there, the ones who are missing, they will be heard and there will be action and there will be accountability on all levels of government. We as Aboriginal people have always survived. Grandfathers, ancestors, thousands of years. We are survivors and adaptors and I can attest to this by surviving the residential schools. It won’t ever put us down, but we learn from it. Policies that were outdated, this cannot continue.

We’re from the true north, strong and free and we’re all northern people. It’s time again to honour and respect the important role that women have in our communities, in our homes and our respective nations haven’t forgotten our pasts. How did we get to the point that 1,017 Aboriginal women were murdered in our country and 164 and counting are still missing? Is our justice system broken? Are we not important to the police? No, not really. It’s time to break the cycle of abuse, time to stop the neglect and take action.

Let us pray with the families of the murdered and missing. Honour these women. Don’t pity them.

We have a complicated series of traditions. Whether they’re Dene, Inuvialuit, English, Metis or French, we’re all human. Let us stand together in this House again. Let us show our families, our wives, our partners, our mothers, our grandmothers, daughters, nieces and cousins the power of love and hope we have for them; more important, the ones yet to be born, that society has changed because we made a difference today, we stood as one. Let us show them that we love them, we care and we’re going to stand up to discrimination, to violence and to end this cycle. The time is now. Mahsi cho. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover, Mr. Hawkins, and the seconder, Mr. Yakeleya, for bringing us here today and to thank the many stakeholders, as was mentioned in both their statements, who allowed us to recognize this very important piece in our Canadian history.

When one reviews the motion in detail, it is extremely hard to ignore as the facts speak for themselves and they’re daunting. It’s clear from a broader perspective this motion is really dealing with the dysfunction of our social conditions and circumstances from substance abuse, chronic violence, economic deprivation, cultural trauma from residential schools and colonialism in general. Yet to the heart of the debate the questions that still bear asking, what will such an inquiry accomplish and how? What questions should this inquiry try to put to rest and how would things change moving forward?

If anything, the calling for such an inquiry appears to have become almost the default political position for many where it sparked opposition in its framework.

I have thought long and hard in preparation for today’s motion. I have scoured the opinions of political analysts. I have reviewed the many positions of First Nations organizations across the country, and I read numerous reports and their findings. My conclusion is actually mixed, but it is supportive, and I would like to explain.

Many believe that such a national inquiry would be very long, laboured, complex and an expensive exercise with questionable impact. Others agreed and said, yes, it will be complicated, painful and sensitive, but argued this is exactly what needs to take place during a crisis, that public record needs to take place and that this will symbolize a national narrative for the transition of healing, and I do agree with that.

As for how much this type of an inquiry would cost, this was a difficult research question to answer. Some peg it that it would cost over $60 million and others claim it could cost well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. To the question of costs, as mentioned earlier by Mr. Hawkins, is that really the determinant we should be debating? I don’t think it is.

Many believe the issue at hand would be better addressed with taking this investment and national mandating an elite police task force with Aboriginal representation to tackle the backlog of these unsolved cases. I believe the latter point would definitely have a more action-orientated outcome, but would we be resolving the root cause of the problem? I don’t think it would.

In essence, I would suggest that both approaches in a multi-pronged framework would need to come together to have truly effective resolve. Despite the potential of design flaws with such a national inquiry, in my opinion, makes little sense for me to oppose it given its tremendous influence it could have on future government policies, closure for families and public healing as a whole.

Therefore, I wish to thank Mr. Hawkins for bringing this motion to the floor of the House today and, of course, Mr. Yakeleya, for seconding it so we could have this important and needed debate for the victims and their families.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Often when we contemplate a decision or an issue, it’s just perhaps instinct that we find ourselves rationalizing. We say cost is a factor or else perhaps we’ve been through this process before and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. At the same time, there is a level of denial in terms of the hard core facts that

we have Aboriginal women that have been murdered, at the same time, missing.

With that in mind, the NWT has a record of very stellar leadership and being at the national forefront whether it’s advocating for First Nations in terms of housing initiatives. At the same time, recently the biggest achievement that the NWT has achieved is through devolution, and we play a very prominent role. Perhaps this is the time to put our leadership on the table and say we need to step up on this matter and do something. I think today is the time.

Personally, I know of some people that are missing in my home community. There was a local elder that wandered off in the bush and was never found again. There is another young woman that I know of in our community who has been missing for some time. At the same time, we have another person that I know of who has never been found. If people go missing, there’s no closure. You don’t know whether they’re going to come back one day, and this leaves the family in a very grievous state. You know, they’ll wonder. If you can imagine that this circumstance is right across Canada, and we need to do something about that.

This motion calls for a national roundtable. Yes, we’ve seen some initiatives recently. What comes to my mind is the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. It was a very extensive study in terms of looking at the history of First Nations in terms of their role within Canada, with how they’re related with the federal government, the obligations of treaties, promises that were made when Canada became a country and even before that time. We’ve also seen recently that Truth and Reconciliation Commission that travelled across Canada looking at the residential school experience.

We have initiatives that have gone on before, but what’s important to note is that we need to do something about this, and I believe today is the time to step up and say, yes, we’re going to act upon this and move forward. I will be supporting this motion.