Letter to Public Safety Portfolio Employees on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

To: All Portfolio Employees
From: Minister Ralph Goodale
Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Subject National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

December 6th marks the anniversary of the murder of 14 female engineering students at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989. These 14 individuals lost their lives because they were women. Every year we commemorate the tragic loss of these women and others like them on this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Today is an opportunity to speak out and to take action. I encourage you to:

My Cabinet colleague, Minister Patty Hajdu, is leading a vital government-wide initiative to raise awareness about gender-based violence in Canada and to end the fear and suffering it causes. I am proud of the work done across my Portfolio to support Minister Hajdu's efforts - in government, with the public and online.

Within my own mandate, Public Safety Canada is developing the detailed plan needed to deliver on our commitments to increase gun safety and reduce gun violence. We will soon be assisted by a reconstituted Firearms Advisory Committee including expertise from law enforcement, public health and women's groups along with agriculture, hunting and recreation.

I was also mandated by the Prime Minister to ensure that all parts of this Portfolio provide workplaces free from harassment and sexual violence. Together, we must all lead by example in the way we conduct ourselves, both on-the-job and off.

Let's make a difference for the better every day.

Yours sincerely,

Ralph Goodale
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

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