Status of Women committee  Sure. I believe you're asking about enforcement issues: How could someone know that it's the defendant who is creating this account? I think it really depends on the issue. Enforcement is really something that falls under provincial or territorial jurisdiction, but I think contact would include any form of contact.

Status of Women committee  It's proposed paragraph 810.‍03(7)(e): “abstain from communicating, directly or indirectly, with the informant...or any relative or close friend of the informant”.

Status of Women committee  That's correct. Yes.

Status of Women committee  Yes. This amendment would also remove the condition “to refrain from using social media” under proposed paragraph 810.03(7)(f). The Criminal Code is quite clear that any conditions imposed on someone in this peace bond context must be reasonable and linked to ensuring the good conduct of the defendant or the safety of the informant or the intimate partner.

Status of Women committee  I believe it was alluded to earlier that there is a condition currently in the bill, under proposed paragraph 810.‍03(7)(e), that would require the defendant to “abstain from communicating, directly or indirectly, with the informant” or intimate partner. The word “indirectly” is key here.

Status of Women committee  I would have to double-check with the department to see what statistics they have on it. I could undertake to get back to the committee on that.

Status of Women committee  You are referring to the Gladue principle at sentencing, I believe.

Status of Women committee  It's a rule at sentencing that requires that the judge consider all available sanctions other than imprisonment. If they are reasonable in the circumstances and consistent with the harm done to victims and the community, it should be considered for all offenders, with particular emphasis on aboriginal offenders.

Status of Women committee  The facts of the original case originate from 1995. The woman's name was Jamie Tanis Gladue. She was a 19-year-old Cree woman who stabbed and killed her common-law husband at the time in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Ms. Gladue was extremely intoxicated at the time of the stabbing, double the legal limit, and had a dispute with her partner before the incident.

Status of Women committee  Just for context, proposed subsection 810.03(7) of the bill lists a certain number of optional conditions that a judge can impose on the defendant, in addition to any other reasonable condition. The radius condition that's being proposed here in this amendment refers to the condition at proposed paragraph 810.03(7)(c) on page 3 of the bill, which currently requires the defendant “to refrain from going to any specified place, except in accordance with any specified conditions that the judge considers necessary”.

Status of Women committee  My apologies. Which program do you want stats on?

Status of Women committee  Just so I'm clear, are you talking about statistics with respect to the Gladue sentencing provision in the Criminal Code—how many offenders have been subject to that particular provision, and whether they have reoffended? Is that the question?

Status of Women committee  I would say that if there was a situation where someone, hypothetically, had been assaulted and went to the police, charges would typically be laid at that point. The peace bond regime tends to be for situations where there hasn't been an offence yet, but there's threatening conduct or coercive control issues that would lead a woman to think that she might be assaulted in the future, for example, or that her child might be harmed.

Status of Women committee  Yes. On page 2 of the bill, under clause 2, proposed subsection 810.03(3) sets the maximum period for the peace bond currently at two years. Proposed subsection 810.03(4) would allow that period to go up to three years if there's a prior conviction for intimate partner violence.

Status of Women committee  The current bill says two years. This motion would amend lines 22 and 23 to specify that it's 12 months instead of two years for the recognizance order. If you go down to line 30, the motion would change it from three years to two years for what they call “Duration extended”. Essentially, it's the situation where you have a longer peace bond because of a prior conviction.