But overall the fact remains that there are a lot of questions and few answers. To help correct this situation, the Ministry of the Solicitor General, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Police Association have formed a working group on stress. This group will support the development of research on stress in the police community. Its goal will be to identify the roles and responsibilities of management and police associations in combatting stress. The group has already met twice and I am confident that it will help us find new and better ways of helping police officers cope with stress on the job.
Family violence is another area where more answers are needed.
Family violence situations are notorious for the dangers they present to police officers. And this inherent danger places a correspondingly high demand on the skills and training a police officer needs to resolve such situations. However, the question of what is appropriate and adequate training is still open to debate. To help guide our assessment of existing strategies and to direct proposals for new ones, the Ministry of the Solicitor General has agreed to support the development of training in this area. The committee's task will be to identify gaps and problems with training and propose solutions.