Will the Premier Commit to Implementing the MCC Recommendations? - QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission was released last month. It details how our communities, our province, and many vulnerable women were failed by systems that should have protected them.

Avalon Sexual Assault Centre brought forward the fact that the perpetrator was well known to have taken advantage of vulnerable and marginalized women who came to him for denture services - many of them in Dartmouth South. This was enabled through referrals from the Department of Community Services. These women did not report because they did not feel safe.

Will the Premier commit to implementing the Recommendation No. 13 of the report to adequately fund organizations combating gender-based violence at "epidemic levels" and to ensure that victims feel safe coming forward?

THE PREMIER « » : Mr. Speaker, I thank the commissioners for their work. Of course, we know the tragedy of that period of time in this province and across the country. Our thoughts have always been with the families, with the survivors. It's just a terrible thing that happened.

The commission made a number of recommendations. What I would tell the member is that we can't change what happened in the past, but we can certainly do everything possible to prevent it from happening again. We're going to work with those commission recommendations. We'll work with the federal government to make sure the very first step is the recommendation to put the panel together to make sure that governments, federally and provincially, follow through on the recommendations. We're committed to doing what we possibly can to prevent this from happening again.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : This and many other recommendations are squarely within the purview of the provincial government, and are designed to make sure it never happens again. We all know we can't change the past.

Survivors, families, and community members have expressed that they continue to struggle and do not have adequate resources to heal in the aftermath of the tragedy. In light of this, Recommendation No. 30 of the report reads: "By May 1, 2023, the Government of Canada and Nova Scotia should jointly fund a program to address the public health emergency that exists in Colchester, Cumberland, and Hants Counties as a result of an unmet need for mental health, grief, and bereavement supports arising from the April 2020 mass casualty." I'll table that.

Will the Premier commit to implementing this recommendation by May 1st?

THE PREMIER « » : What I want to say to the member is I've already met with groups from the area. I know the MLA for the area has been a strong voice for the community, for the families, for the survivors. I want to assure the member we're taking the recommendations very seriously. I don't want to leave any room for doubt on that. Nobody wants this to happen again. As a province, as a country, we will absolutely do whatever we can to make sure we take the steps to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

There are a number of recommendations. Every single one of them is on the table. We'll do what we can.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The one I just mentioned has a deadline in three weeks. The Mass Casualty Commission recommended no less than a transformation of our entire approach to community safety. In Recommendation No. 116, the commission wrote: "The Province of Nova Scotia should within six months of the publication of this Report establish a multisectoral council comprising representatives of municipal police agencies and RCMP, community safety experts, and diverse community representatives to engage with community members and experts and review the structure of policing in Nova Scotia." I'll table that.

The Premier has said again and again that he'll do what he can. Can the Premier commit to implementing this recommendation by the stated deadline?

THE PREMIER « » : The effort that went into the Mass Casualty Commission and - the report is 3,000 pages. A number of recommendations. The member has identified three recommendations. She could put them all in front of me and go through them one by one, and my answer would be the same. Nobody wants to see something like this happen ever again in this province or in this country. We will absolutely take the recommendations of the commission to heart. We will work to do what we can to prevent something like this in this province. We will always keep the families and the survivors at the centre of everything we do, Mr. Speaker. I will assure the House and every single Nova Scotian of that. (Applause)