Bill S-7 (Historical)

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act

An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in August 2015.

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

Part 1 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to specify that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of practising polygamy in Canada.
Part 2 amends the Civil Marriage Act to provide for the legal requirements for a free and enlightened consent to marriage and for any previous marriage to be dissolved or declared null before a new marriage is contracted. Those requirements are currently provided for in the Federal Law—Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1 only in respect of Quebec and under the common law in the other provinces. It also amends the Civil Marriage Act to provide for the requirement of a minimum age of 16 years for marriage. This requirement is currently provided for in the Federal Law—Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1 only in respect of Quebec.
Part 3 amends the Criminal Code to
(a) clarify that it is an offence for an officiant to knowingly solemnize a marriage in contravention of federal law;
(b) provide that it is an offence to celebrate, aid or participate in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is doing so against their will or is under the age of 16 years;
(c) provide that it is an offence to remove a child from Canada with the intention that an act be committed outside Canada that, if it were committed in Canada, would constitute the offence of celebrating, aiding or participating in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that the child is doing so against their will or is under the age of 16 years;
(d) provide that a judge may order a person to enter into a recognizance with conditions to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the purpose of preventing the person from committing an offence relating to the marriage of a person against their will or the marriage of a person under the age of 16 years or relating to the removal of a child from Canada with the intention of committing an act that, if it were committed in Canada, would be such an offence; and
(e) provide that the defence of provocation is restricted to circumstances in which the victim engaged in conduct that would constitute an indictable offence under the Criminal Code that is punishable by five years or more in prison.
Finally, the enactment also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

June 16, 2015 Passed That the Bill be now read a third time and do pass.
June 15, 2015 Passed That Bill S-7, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, {as amended}, be concurred in at report stage [with a further amendment/with further amendments] .
June 15, 2015 Failed
June 9, 2015 Passed That, in relation to Bill S-7, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at report stage of the Bill and one sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at report stage and on the day allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the stage of the Bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.
March 12, 2015 Passed That, in relation to Bill S-7, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, not more than two further sitting days shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the second day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on March 31, 2015

  • Joanne Klineberg, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
  • Gillian Blackell, Senior Counsel, Family, Children and Youth Sector, Department of Justice
  • Lisa Hitch, Senior Counsel, Family, Children and Youth Sector, Department of Justice
  • Maureen Tsai, Director, Admissibility Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on April 23, 2015

  • Tahir Gora, Director General, Canadian Thinkers' Forum
  • Chantal Desloges, Lawyer, Desloges Law Group, As an Individual
  • Kathryn Marshall, Lawyer, As an Individual
  • Salma Siddiqui, President, Coalition of Progressive Canadian Muslim Organizations
  • Rupaleem Bhuyan, Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, As an Individual
  • Lee Marsh, President, Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses, As an Individual

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on April 30, 2015

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on May 5, 2015

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on May 7, 2015

  • Aruna Papp, President, Community Development and Training
  • Sharryn Aiken, Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's University, As an Individual
  • Tamar Witelson, Legal Director, METRAC Action on Violence
  • Silmi Abdullah, Program Lawyer, METRAC Action on Violence
  • Elsii Faria, Consultant, Marketing and Communications, As an Individual
  • Hannana Siddiqui, Head of Policy and Research, Southall Black Sisters, As an Individual

Citizenship and Immigration Committee, on May 12, 2015