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This is a very practical way to help these individuals, although some checks and balances would have to be written into the amended act to ensure people can’t use it to simply get out of a lease they no longer want to be obligated to.

This type of practical help is long overdue in Alberta, where according to Statistics Canada, the rate of domestic violence in 2013 stood at 623 per 100,000 people, which was twice the rate nationally. Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 women and children couldn’t find room at a provincial shelter between April last year and March of this year.

Too often, the woman fleeing domestic violence feels that she is alone with no one who believes her and nowhere to turn. Long-term abuse will have destroyed her self-esteem and she may have come to believe she deserves to be abused. Leaving the situation calls for great courage on her part, and the fewer barriers she has to surmount in doing so, the more successful she will be in breaking away from the abuse and starting a new life.

What such an individual needs at this type of moment in her life is support, and Drever’s private member’s bill offers the solid backing of the law. Private member’s bills have a habit of falling by the wayside, but this one deserves to be passed.

We look forward to seeing what other equally original, creative and practical initiatives Drever will come up with as she continues to work on domestic violence issues. What she’s produced so far with this bill is sterling work.