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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 256

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 27, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 256 - Nov/27/23
Ms. Lisa Hepfner (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Lib.)
  • Nov/27/23 11:20:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for bringing this important legislation to us today. I understand that some of the opposition to passing the legislation in the past was from teachers who feared that it would take away some of their right to defend themselves in the case of students who became violent. I would ask the member whether he has a response to that concern of different teachers groups.
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Context: House Hansard - 256 - Nov/27/23
Ms. Lisa Hepfner (Hamilton Mountain, Lib.)
  • Nov/27/23 2:18:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during my previous career, I spent many years covering murder trials, and I would say that most of them were cases of violence against women. I cried with the families after difficult days of testimony when we witnessed horrific evidence, heard terrifying details and listened to violent offenders try to justify their actions. I still get choked up when I share the families' stories. I still relive the horrors in my nightmares. Eleven million Canadians say that they have experienced intimate partner violence at least once since the age of 15. It is not only the victims who suffer; it is also their families, their friends and the frontline workers who were there trying to help. In my role as parliamentary secretary, I have heard from organizations across the country. The national action plan to end gender-based violence provides half a billion dollars to help prevent or address the cycle of violence. As the 16 days of activism get under way, let us all commit to doing this work. Gender-based violence has to end.
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