Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Mattoo, Ms. Parsa, thank you for being with us this morning.
The issue of controlling or coercive conduct is of great concern to us. One of our jobs, as legislators, is to ensure that people are safe and aren't victims of violence in any form. To that end, Bill C‑332 seems like a good move.
There are already offences in the Criminal Code for violence, assault, uttering threats, kidnapping, forcible confinement, rape and sexual assault. All of these offences are already covered under the Criminal Code. We could carry on under the current provisions and clamp down on this type of violence. Controlling and coercive conduct is about exerting control over someone else. Usually, it's a male partner exerting control on the female partner, or vice versa. There's not really any specific Criminal Code provision dealing with that.
I understand the position you're both defending. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're advocating for providing training to everyone who works in the justice system. Obviously, I agree with that, but is it going far enough? Shouldn't we be more proactive? Sure, training needs to happen, but we also need to ensure that we send a clear message to society. If a person treats their partner in that way, we won't be providing them training. Rather, that person will be tried and sentenced.
I realize that Bill C‑332 will probably need to be improved and fine-tuned, but don't we still need to include these provisions and create clear offences for this conduct?
Ms. Mattoo can answer first, followed by Ms. Parsa.