Thank you.
My comments mostly deal with the new 810 section, otherwise known as the peace bond provisions, because what Senator Boisvenu has done is very clever. He's created a two-tiered 810 system, in a way. We already have an 810 system, but that 810 system is somewhat limited. For example, they could give up to 12 months, and it's not really geared toward intimate partner violence.
In Senator Boisvenu's bill, he has a separate system where, first, it goes before a provincial court judge. In the current 810 system, it actually goes before a justice. It could be a criminal court judge, but it could also be a justice of the peace. In addition, he's lengthened the restraining order provisions to now be two years, and perhaps even three years if there's a previous record. In the old version, when it doesn't deal with intimate partner violence, that doesn't exist. He's also increased, if you breach, the penalty to up to two years, whereas in the old one it's one year.
It's a really good two-tiered system that recognizes intimate partner violence. Even the fact that it's here gives more publicity to the fact that this is an epidemic and it has to be taken seriously. It goes hand in hand with Keira's law, both federally and provincially. As judges hopefully get and implement that training, they'll be in a better position to know what the conditions are that we should impose, including that treatment program for domestic violence and including even the ankle monitoring.