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Jones wants more public input on safer
communities legislation Yvonne Jones, Opposition Critic for the Status of Women, is disappointed that Justice Minister Tom Osborne decided to continue with legislation on safer communities and neighbourhoods despite concerns raised by some women’s groups and other community activists in the province about the lack of adequate consultation. "I today asked the minister to delay this Bill because of the concerns which had been raised by people from various parts of the province," said Ms. Jones. "Unfortunately, I do not have a level of comfort that the concerns about this legislation have been addressed." Groups in the province taking exception to the quick passage of this legislation include the Provincial Committee of the Violence Prevention Initiative, the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Anti-violence Coalition and representatives from various Women’s Centres. "If this legislation had been delayed until the next sitting of the House, I think government would have had an opportunity to do meaningful consultation with various groups around this province. Right now, people are telling me that the consultation process was a complete farce with groups only being contacted after the legislation was put forward in the House of Assembly. "Some groups and individuals are even concerned that this legislation, which is intended to make communities safer, may actually have the opposite impact. We need to have more public discussion to make sure we are getting this right and that the legislation achieves its intended purpose." The Liberal MHA noted that in other provinces where similar legislation had been brought forward there had been extensive consultations. "The Minister admitted in the House that the consultation process was inadequate, yet he refused to address this problem by delaying passage of this legislation."
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