Thank you.
Members of the committee, my name is Tamar Witelson, and this is Silmi Abdullah. We are lawyers from METRAC, a non-profit organization that has worked for 30 years to prevent violence against women. Thank you for this opportunity to explain METRAC's concern that women and girls will be harmed if Bill S-7 is passed into law.
I believe you have our written submission. Today, I will focus on criminal law issues and Ms. Abdullah will focus on immigration issues.
First, METRAC does not support amending the Criminal Code to create offences for knowingly celebrating, aiding, or participating in a marriage ceremony in which a woman is forced to marry against her will or under the age of 16.
This very broad language risks criminalizing many community and family members, including women who may not be able to refuse to participate in such marriage ceremonies, exposing them to a possible five years in prison. We know that women facing forced and under-age marriage will not report if their family and community members face penalties. We fear that forced marriage will become clandestine, further isolating women and girls from help.
A non-citizen who is sentenced to jail for six months under these provisions may become inadmissible and be deported from Canada, leaving the woman or girl saved from forced marriage, but without family, financial, and social supports in Canada. And she too may be deported, as a family member sponsored by the deportee.
Criminal sanctions against forced and under-age marriage risk isolating vulnerable women and trapping them in abusive marriages. Criminal sanctions add barriers to safety. Canada needs education, counselling, and financial and housing support to truly combat forced marriage.
Second, METRAC does not support adding a new peace bond to the Criminal Code specifically aimed at preventing a person from aiding a forced or under-age marriage.
As you know, refusal to enter into a peace bond or a breach of its terms has criminal consequences, including jail time, and this risk will likely deter many women and girls from applying for the peace bond. But if she does, we're concerned that the application process itself will increase risks to her safety. The defendant receives notice of the peace bond. The woman and defendant attend in court together in an adversarial process without crown counsel.
We know that women are at increased risk of violence when they challenge or try to leave an abuser. We're concerned that women who might seek safety through a special peace bond will be put at risk by the process. Existing peace bonds are sufficient. If a woman is afraid of a forced or under-age marriage, what she especially needs is a realistic safety plan with financial and housing support to prevent a forced or under-age marriage.
Third, METRAC opposes limiting the circumstances to which the Criminal Code defence of provocation may apply.
Historically, the defence of provocation has been used by jealous men who killed their female partners and claimed that they lost control when provoked by the woman's infidelity. But since 2010, the law in Canada does not allow the defence when the loss of control is rooted in feelings that are inconsistent with the charter right of equality. The Supreme Court of Canada has expressly limited the use of this defence in cases of adultery, homophobia, and in the context of family honour. However, Bill S-7 goes further by adding that the acts that provoke must also constitute an offence punishable by at least five years in prison. We believe that this will deny the limited defence of provocation to women survivors of abuse.
Woman abuse includes emotional and psychological abuse, controlling and demeaning behaviour, and can be insidious and cumulative, and it typically takes many attempts before a woman is finally able to escape her abuser. An abused woman may be provoked to act in a moment of lost control, leading to the death of her abuser, but if in that instant the abuser's actions do not constitute a serious criminal offence, Bill S-7 will deny that woman the chance of the limited defence of provocation.
We recommend that this limited defence remain an option in all situations of woman abuse and that the Criminal Code specifically recognize the context of abuse and the court's direction to respect charter rights when applying the defence of provocation.
Ms. Abdullah.