While attending the Federal/Provincial/Territorial meeting in Fredericton, New Brunswick, last week, the Honourable P. Mitchell Murphy, Minister of Community Affairs and Attorney General, met privately with the Federal Minister of Justice, the Honourable Allan Rock. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the petition from the Citizens Against Sexual Abuse of Children which had been signed by close to 13,000 Islanders.
"In the days leading up to the conference our office had been in contact with Minister Rock's office in order to try and arrange a private meeting with him on this very important issue to Islanders and, indeed, Canadians," Murphy stated. "We were very pleased when we were able to arrange a meeting for Thursday evening, February 27, 1997, with Minister Rock."
Murphy indicated that the meeting served a very useful purpose. "We reviewed recent initiatives that the Federal government has taken to try and deal with sexual assault offenders, particularly in relation to children, and we discussed further initiatives that are currently before Parliament. I stressed that Islanders see sexual assault of children as a particularly abhorrent crime. This is demonstrated by the work done by the Citizens Against Sexual Abuse of Children and the number of signatures to the petition. He was particularly moved by the strength of numbers." Murphy also stated "I also wanted to impress upon him that the Government of Prince Edward Island would support any further initiatives by the Federal government that would deter individuals from committing this type of offence. I feel very confident that Minister Rock is very sensitive to the concerns of Islanders on this issue. "
For more information, contact Hon. P. Mitchell Murphy at (902) 368-5250.