Julie Green

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Is the Minister open to solutions that may look for a new partner rather than Avens to provide this program?

I did not hear an answer to my question in that response, so I am going to ask it again. I would like the Minister to tell us why he thinks nobody wants to run this program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the mandate for this Assembly calls for action on the crisis of family violence and creating opportunities for healthy lifestyles. The program that provides healing for men who use violence in intimate relationships ticks both of these boxes. A comprehensive evaluation of the program revealed it is working, yet the Department of Justice has decided to dismantle A New Day. The current contractor didn't bid on the RFP for the program and nor did any non-profit service provider that might have both the skills and interest. That's not a surprise.

During a...

Thank you to the Minister for that information. The training was very helpful. Now that the Minister has seen the results of this survey, has he given any more thought to the idea of advocating for the Philadelphia model, where there is a civilian member of an unfounded oversight committee? Does he think that is a good idea?

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to get to a couple more of my questions on the unfounded cases with the Minister of Justice. My question about the review of the unfounded cases is whether there was any additional communication between the RCMP and the complainants who talked about the review and about any of the results that might be relevant to the individuals. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister commit to getting that information for us about exactly what kind of an investigation took place into those old files, including whether the evidence was re-examined?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Minister provided a response to my written questions on the number of cases that were found to be unfounded on sexual assault. He indicated that a reclassification had reduced the number to 18.7. My question, first of all, is whether the Minister is going to direct the RCMP to reinvestigate or follow up with those cases? Thank you.

I think that was an invitation to join Cabinet. I will take it.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed on this RFP in January, and we flagged some problems at that time, which the department then ignored. They put out a completely unpalatable RFP, patently unpalatable. Nobody has bid on it. Is the Minister prepared to work with the Coalition Against Family Violence to revamp the revamp so that this program has someone who wants to offer it?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. The department has advertised for a service provider for the revamped A New Day program, and, despite holding a bidders' conference and then revising the RFP, none of the non-profits have submitted a proposal. At least one that was approached directly declined to take the program on. What is the Minister's understanding of what the problem is here? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My final question is whether the Minister will advocate at the FPT table for the RCMP to adopt this civilian oversight at the national level so it can be implemented everywhere that they serve. Thank you.