Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, as you know, the report suggests otherwise. The federal government has not been there for the victims.

Our national Victims and Survivors of Crime Week is two weeks away. This event has often been overlooked by the federal government for the past six years, and any commitments it does make are nothing more than empty rhetoric and slogans. Will you undertake to speak with the Prime Minister of Canada to ensure that these families are treated humanely, properly and appropriately?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, and it is once again about the Portapique tragedy, specifically the interim report that lays out the progress of the public inquiry and outlines next steps.

The interim report states that the victims’ families and the broader Portapique community have not received the support they needed. Over the past two years, the federal government has done nothing to provide victims’ families and the community with mental health, trauma and bereavement supports. It’s unacceptable that the federal government has let two years go by without developing a strategy to provide mental health support resources. I would like to quote from a statement Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made on April 19, 2020, about this tragedy:

The people of Nova Scotia are strong and resilient, and we will be here to support them as they heal from this tragedy.

Why didn’t the Prime Minister keep that promise? Why wasn’t he there for these families?