I rise today to inform my colleagues that this Tuesday and Wednesday over 100 community stakeholders and government partners of the Violence Prevention Initiative will gather in St. John�s.

This is the first time that partners of the Violence Prevention Initiative have come together and reflects one of the commitments made this year in the new Violence Prevention Initiative Action Plan 2006-2012.

The theme of this meeting is Building Capacity in our Communities. It will include community volunteers, police officers, members of the regional coordinating committees, and representatives from youth and seniors� groups. Participants will learn how to raise awareness of violence prevention, how to engage people in their communities, and how to use research to educate the public.

Communities and government must work together to provide services to those in violent situations and to spread the message that violence is unacceptable. With the horrific event in Bay d'Espoir, it is clear that much work is still needed to combat violence. This week�s meeting will strengthen community-government partnerships, and ensure that all partners are equipped with the information they need to create real change in our province.

This government is investing $7.2 million over the next six years because we want to see a dramatic impact on violence prevention and public awareness.

A critical component of this is getting our message to our young people, which is one of the goals of the Safe and Caring Schools Policy. This is an extremely important document. Every student in this province deserves to attend a peaceful school and to know they are safe from violence. They must learn from an early age that any form of bullying or aggression simply will not be tolerated.

Clearly, creating peaceful schools requires pro-active programming, effective partnerships, and the dedication of students, teachers and parents alike. It also requires hard work, but all students deserve to learn and grow safely.

Government is also acting on its commitment to create a violence prevention marketing campaign that will raise awareness about violence prevention with as many people in our province as possible. This campaign will be launched in the near future.

People across our province have long been working to combat violence. As you can see, this government is determined to work with community groups to reduce violence. I would encourage everyone here today to spread the message in your districts that violence is unacceptable.

2006 11 20                                      2:00 p.m.