The following statement was issued by the Honourable Tom Marshall, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.  It was also read in the House of Assembly: 

Justice Issues at Aboriginal Women�s Conference 

I rise today to congratulate the aboriginal women�s community on a very successful Aboriginal Women�s Conference that took place on November 23-26, 2006 in Stephenville. 

I had the pleasure of speaking at the event alongside my colleague, Joan Burke, Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.  Justice officials and I also had the opportunity to take in some of the workshops and sessions and would like to compliment conference organizers on the outstanding agenda, specifically the presenters and participants who most certainly bolstered this year�s conference theme The Good Life for Aboriginal Women - Moving Forward Building Strength. 

After delivering my speech, I engaged in a question and answer session followed by numerous individual meetings.  The provision of family justice services in the province was a significant topic of discussion.  Currently, we are working on providing better family justice services outside St. John�s.  The provision of family law services in Newfoundland and Labrador is currently not uniform across the province; indeed it has been described as a patchwork quilt.  We have made a request to the federal government for four new judges including one for Labrador.  Our government committed to providing the ancillary services such as mediation, conciliation and education services and did so with a $600,000 investment for these services in Budget 2006-07.  We have subsequently created 11 new permanent positions to ensure more children and families in more regions of the province receive timely and effective mediation, counseling and education services. 

I was pleased to receive feedback on this initiative and others implemented by this government including family violence legislation, the expansion of Victim Services and our Aboriginal Interpretation Strategy.  Justice officials and I forged new relations and follow-up contact has already been made with delegates for consultative purposes.  We are currently working on ways to improve consultation and communication with the Aboriginal women�s community.  This diverse gathering, with its representatives from such varied parts of the province, will help us as we strive to foster better relations and better responses. 

The Williams government is committed to improving our relationship with Aboriginal communities.  I personally am determined to make the administration of justice more accessible and more compatible with Aboriginal cultures.  The voice of Aboriginal women is critical, and it is a voice my colleagues and I will be listening to.  I ask all members of this House of Assembly to join with me in congratulating the Aboriginal women�s community on another very successful conference. 

2006 12 04                                                        1:50 p.m.