Status of Women Committee on July 31st, 2024

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

I'd like to call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 118 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Before we begin, I would like to ask all members and other in-person participants to consult the cards on the table for guidelines to prevent audio feedback incidents.

Please take note of the following preventative measures in place to protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters.

Only use a black, approved earpiece. The former, grey earpieces must no longer be used. Please keep your earpiece away from the microphone at all times. When you're not using your earpiece, place it face down on the sticker placed on the table for this purpose.

I thank you in advance for your co-operation.

For all members in the room and online, please wait until I recognize you by name prior to speaking. Additionally, for members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will be managing the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your understanding in this regard.

Lastly, as a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair and not to each other.

I would also like to make a few comments for the benefit of our witnesses. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. For those participating by video conference....

I will note that we're just waiting to add our third witness via Zoom. We're having a few technical difficulties, so we're going to proceed with the two witnesses we have in the room. We're working in the background to try to get our third witness up and running.

For those of you in the room, your mic will be controlled by the proceedings and verification officer, so you don't need to click on it yourselves. It will be controlled.

You may speak in the official language of your choice. Interpretation services are available. You have the choice of floor, English or French for your earpiece. If the interpretation is lost, please let me know right away.

At this point, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee is meeting to hear testimony related to the committee's core mandate. More specifically, we're hearing about the impacts of violent crimes against women.

Before we welcome our witnesses, I would like to acknowledge and provide this trigger warning. We will be discussing experiences related to violence against women. This may be triggering to viewers with similar experiences. If at any point you feel distressed or need help, please advise the clerk.

For all of the witnesses and for all members of Parliament, it is very important to recognize that these are very difficult discussions. Let's continue to try to be as compassionate as we can.

Now I would like to welcome our witnesses.

As an individual, we have Cait Alexander, the founder of End Violence Everywhere. We also have Megan Walker in the room. She is an advocate for ending male violence against women. From Peel Regional Police, we have Nick Milinovich, deputy chief of police, joining us by video conference.

You will each have five minutes for opening remarks, which will be followed by rounds of questions.

At this point, I will give the floor to Ms. Alexander to start.

You have five minutes.

[Cait Alexander, End Violence Everywhere, As an Individual]

I'm fortunate to be here today. I'm supposed to be dead. On July 31, 2021, exactly three years ago today, I sent the two-word WhatsApp message “please help” to a friend who, thankfully, believed me. My ex was beating me—all six feet, three inches and approximately 250 pounds of him—because he couldn't find his car keys. For four hours with his fists, his feet, a wooden rolling pin and door wells, he split my head open in three places, gouged my eyes out with his thumbs, kicked my ribs and tortured me in ways I can feel but can't fully describe. I do not know how my body survived it.

My ex enjoyed what he did to me. He threatened to kill my family. The police were going to leave me for dead, but my former neighbour intervened.

After all that, guess what your criminal injustice system gave me? A peace bond. All eight charges, five in the provincial and three in the federal, were stayed against my ex. I can't say his name, because it will forever be known as “alleged” abuse. I ask of you exactly what I asked Justice Himel, who had tears in her eyes on March 26, 2024, when I received the peace bond: Why does he abuse, and why is he allowed to get away with it? He abuses because he is publicly and personally rewarded for it. He is allowed to get away with it because you, the Government of Canada, let him.

Abuse is a choice, a moral failing, and it is also inexcusable. Even three years later my ex is still abusing me. I am suing him as the only form of legal justice I have left. He has put in a meritless counterclaim as a continuation of abuse against me. He states that I was self-injurious and that I stole his Rolex after. He is lying under oath.

You will listen to me because I am Caucasian, educated and a member of an industry that holds space in the public eye, but these issues have been plaguing people everywhere across the nation for so long in the dark corners.

Now we are in the light. We will shine until there is retribution. We will break the stigmas down into the nothingness they are. There are no stereotypical victims. There are only stereotypical abusers. IPV and SA happen in all cultures and in all socio-economic statuses, races, ages and genders, but so predominantly with women and children. Today is not about me. Today is about us and about what this means going forward. You have granted me the honour of speaking on behalf of all men, women, non-binary and children survivors of violence. I want to state from a survivor's perspective that Trudeau doesn't care, Ford doesn't care, Arif doesn't care and the government doesn't care.

The government doesn't care about Courtney Gaudreau, who faced potential charges and jail time for speaking the name of her convicted abuser when a publication ban was implemented without her consent.

The government doesn't care about Brian and Suzanne Sweeney, whose daughter Angie was shot to death along with three innocent children; or about Brett and Jessica Broadfoot, whose daughter was stabbed to death two weeks ago at age 17, leaving behind her absolutely incredible 15-year-old brother Lucas.

The government doesn't care about Melanie Hatton, who fled B.C. to Ontario after nearly being murdered by her ex-partner. She suffers long-term traumatic brain injury, still lives in fear daily with her two children and now owes $300,000 to the CRA because her ex bankrupted her.

The government doesn't care about Tanya Couch, who was sexually assaulted by her former commanding officer and cadets, but the military police failed to investigate it properly. The case was finally reopened, leading to three sexual assault charges ultimately being stayed after the defence used section 278 of the Criminal Code to subpoena seven years of Tanya's personal counselling records.

The government doesn't care about Alexa Barkley, who has suffered multiple SAs throughout her life, with only one of her abusers receiving a mere six months of house arrest for child sexual assault; or about Daniela Halmos, whose ex has been arrested six times and faces 27 charges but is still allowed to go free and, despite her children not wanting it, is allowed to be around them.

The government doesn't care about Sandy Proudfoot, 86 years old, who just finally escaped the abuser who tried to bankrupt her while the police lost her victim statement and nothing proceeded.

The government doesn't care about Cindy, whose infant daughter was so brutally sexually assaulted she had children's toys put up her private parts. Her abuser is not incarcerated.

The government doesn't care about Marlee, who, after three years of going through the courts, felt dehumanized by the process every single step of the way and ended up fighting for restorative justice because the justice system doesn't provide justice; or about Britt Hess, who suffered from the same perpetrator and has experienced multiple assaults, harassment and times of confinement wherein he was charged but then breached his bail. All charges were stayed under his charter right.

The government doesn't care about Julie Macfarlane, who—

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Cait, I'll kindly ask you to slow down a wee bit.

[Cait Alexander]

Sure. I'm just trying to get it all in in the five minutes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

The interpreters have mentioned to me that they are having trouble translating, so we'll give you a bit of liberty with the time because of the translation.

[Cait Alexander]

Sure. Thank you.

The government doesn't care about Julie Macfarlane, who has had NDAs used against her to sue her after she was harassed; or Cassandra, who was nearly murdered through non-state torture, and absolutely no charges were laid; or Sirin, who faced a menacing abuser who now has 35 charges and keeps breaching his bail order. Sirin's life is in danger, but her ex was just granted visiting rights with their child.

There's Fartumo Kusow, whose daughter disappeared after 18 years of abuse and ultimately was murdered by an American who shouldn't have even been allowed to cross the border because of DUIs.

There's Katie Meyer, who suffered 17 counts of physical assault only to have her harrowing experience explained away. Her child will have to testify.

There's Sarah Barber, who has worked tirelessly to shield her children from three and a half years of post-separation legal abuse in the family court system, after experiencing terrifying, relentless violence from a well-known serial woman abuser.

There's Corey Lynn, who has had a lifetime of sexual assaults, starting in childhood, conditioning her to intimate partner violence relationships and lengthy court family battles to protect her children.

There's Travis, who faces bias from the system because of his sexual orientation.

There's Heather Matriarch, whose name has been changed because she's an indigenous woman who still lives—

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Please suspend the meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

I'd like to resume. Thank you for your patience.

At this time, I would like to take the liberty of allowing Cait Alexander a minute or less to wrap up due to the disruption. Thank you.

Go ahead, Cait.

[Cait Alexander]

Thank you. I hope she's okay.

There's Monica, whose 16-year-old daughter nearly committed suicide after her sexual assault; or Lucy, who was publicly shamed with unethical tactics used against her to bully her for years after testifying versus Jian Ghomeshi, who sexually assaulted her and choked her; or Dan Jennings, whose daughter Caitlin was beaten to death with a hammer in London last year.

With the permission from each of these survivors, I have struggled to condense these stories to fit into this speech. In all of these cases, there have been multiple police interventions and there have been attempts to leave, negotiate, plead, pray and run, only to be trapped and further abused by the system and in some cases murdered. We as Canadians have charter rights that are essentially a “get out of jail free” card for criminals, but what about survivors' rights? Why are our charter rights never accounted for?

Most survivors try to leave, but that's when it becomes the most dangerous. Seventy-five per cent of murders happen after the victim leaves. When we're not murdered, we are left in the dark in a life that we no longer understand, with the most debilitating implications of physical, emotional, financial, mental and spiritual turmoil. These are not insular struggles. They affect every system of government and every nuance of life—economic, health care, child care, education, housing and so on. Canada spends an under-representative and dated figure of $8 billion annually on the aftermath of IPV alone. This does not account for the violence of human trafficking, sexual assault and the under-reported cases, which are the majority.

The science behind the effects of trauma is endless. Trauma changes the chemistry of your brain. You are not the same person. There is no “getting over it”. Healing happens in community only with proper medical and therapeutic intervention. We know the state of the country as far as health care is concerned right now. Very few have access to these absolutely necessary remedies in a quantifiable way. Sometimes the effects of trauma are permanent. Could you also imagine having a pre-existing disability? A staggering 40% of disabled people have been abused.

If you haven't met a survivor and victim's family, well, now you have. Those are my parents back there.

This is my passport, and I'm damned embarrassed. I can't live in Canada anymore, because it's not safe for me. I have founded an organization here and in the U.S. called End Violence Everywhere, or EVE, a now registered non-profit. We will put survivors first, reform this justice system and better the community. We need to work together, because you cannot leave it up to the abusers. They do not self-rehabilitate. They do not get better. They do not stop. In fact, they are empowered every time they get away with it, and they increase their violence.

We are too late for tens of thousands of people, but we can prevent further atrocities. Canada needs to stop hiding under the guise of the nice country where nothing bad happens. It's bad, and it's happening right now.

Here we present some solutions. Declare IPV and SA a national state of emergency—

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Ms. Alexander.

[Cait Alexander]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Perhaps you could try to incorporate what's remaining in your comments into some members' times or your response to questions.

[Cait Alexander]

Certainly.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Thank you very much for your testimony, Ms. Alexander.

For those of you online, I would like to acknowledge that there was a small suspension in the meeting due to a medical emergency in the room, which has been sorted out.

I would now like to give the floor to Ms. Walker.

You have five minutes, Ms. Walker.

[Megan Walker, Advocate to End Male Violence Against Women, As an Individual]

Thank you so much.

As you have just heard, the situation for women and girls in Canada is dire. Women and girls have been erased by government policies. Terms like “gender-based violence”, “intimate partner violence” and “domestic violence” fail to differentiate between victim and offender. According to the UN, male violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights abuse in the world, yet the language used by many governments, including Canada's, fails to name it as male violence against women and girls.

Tiffany Gates was found dead in her boyfriend's apartment on September 7, 2023. She was a victim of femicide-suicide. Their names and the nature of their relationship only became public after friends and family posted on social media. Police have not released information, citing privacy rules. Tiffany's mother, Linda Davidson, has continued to tell police that without releasing information, it is unclear to the public who killed whom.

On July 16, as you just heard, 17-year-old Breanna Broadfoot was stabbed multiple times by a man she was trying to end a relationship with. She died two days later. The man who killed her had been charged on March 15, 2024, with offences consistent with torture, including assault with choking and suffocation or strangulation activity. She was hospitalized after the assault. He was released with an undertaking not to contact her, a promise to appear and an order to stay at least 50 metres away from her workplace, home and school. He was prohibited from possessing firearms, crossbows and any restricted ammunition, devices or weapons. He breached his conditions and was due back in court on July 31. He was killed by police on the 16th.

On June 22, 2024, 62-year-old Cheryl Sheldon was killed by a man she was trying to leave. He has since been charged with second-degree murder. Cheryl reached out for help from at least three London agencies. The first two referred her on. The third offered her a bed for the night. Cheryl never arrived. She was killed in the hours after she contacted agencies for help.

In 2019, 136 women were killed. In 2020, 160 women were killed. In 2021, 173 women and girls were killed. In 2022, 184 women and girls were killed. In 2023, 187 women and girls were victims of femicide. The total number of femicides in Canada between 2019 and 2023 is 840. That's 840 dead women.

The year-after-year increase is significant, yet here we are, and the government hasn't called it a crisis or an epidemic. The government, in fact, hasn't addressed it at all.

Current government strategies to end femicide, whatever they are, are not working. If they were, we would see a decrease in femicide rates. I'm hard pressed to know what those strategies are, or even if there are strategies. Male violence against women and femicide are preventable, and immediate action has to be taken to end this crisis now.

I offer the following recommendations.

Legislate and define the term “femicide” in the current Criminal Code. The term generally refers to “the killing of females by males because they are female.”

Canada signed a global treaty in 2018 committing to investigate and eliminate femicide. Canada has not followed through. Why not?

On September 15, 2022, the London Police Service Board, of which I am vice-chair, invited the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the former minister of justice and the Minister of Women and Gender Equality to attend a meeting to discuss the urgent need for a Criminal Code definition of femicide. It's been two years, and there's still been no meeting.

Humanize the names of women and girls. They are victims of femicide.

Acknowledge that every 48 hours, a woman or girl is killed. Follow Ontario municipalities, including London, by declaring femicide an epidemic.

Name victims and offenders publicly. Femicide is not a private issue.

Restraining orders, undertakings and peace bonds offer women and girls a false sense of security and place them at an increased risk of femicide.

Per the examples above, they aren't worth the paper they're written on. The judicial system continues to fail women and girls and needs to be updated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Thank you very much, Ms. Walker.

At this point, I would like to give the floor to Mr. Milinovich.

You have five minutes.

[Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich, Deputy Chief of Police, Peel Regional Police]

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. My name is Nick Milinovich. I am the deputy chief of Peel Regional Police emergency services command at our police service. I'd like to start by thanking the chair and members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for inviting us to participate in this important discussion.

The police-reported crime statistics released by Statistics Canada are nothing short of concerning. We are seeing similar trends across our country. The Peel region is one of the most diverse and vibrant communities in Canada. It also contains one of North America's busiest airports.

In 2023 our officers responded to over 9,500 incidents of family and intimate partner violence, resulting in approximately 26 incidents every single day. We laid over 9,050 charges.

The top five charges are uttering threats, failure to comply with a release order, assault with a weapon and choking or suffocating. Our data shows that a woman is strangled every single day in the region of Peel. Of the 14 homicides we've had in Peel region, almost 20% have been femicides. These are just the incidents that are reported and the statistics that make them up. I would also like to share the stories behind those statistics.

I would talk about Darian Henderson-Bellman. She was a 25-year-old woman with a bright future ahead of her who was shot and killed in Brampton by somebody she had been in a romantic relationship with. That individual was on release at the time of her murder and had been charged with multiple firearms-related offences, along with a failure to comply and a variety of other breach of release orders. He was also charged with two previous IPV-related incidents prior to killing Henderson-Bellman.

Pawanpreet Kaur, a 21-year-old woman, was shot and killed while at her job. Prior to her murder, she was in a relationship with an individual who had been charged with multiple intimate partner violence-related offences in relation to her. He had been released on bail. He had threatened her, her family and her friends in order to have her drop those charges. We are alleging that he's responsible for her homicide.

As early as two weeks ago, we arrested Jagmohanjit Jheety in connection with a variety of intimate partner violence-related offences. This investigation started in May 2024, when the accused was charged with criminal harassment and failed to comply with a release order. Along with a variety of conditions that were placed on him, he was released on bail. In July 2024 the accused is alleged to have followed the victim and fled upon our arrival. At the time, firearms were located in his vehicle along with a variety of other weapons. We identified that he had placed GPS tracking devices on the victim's vehicle. Again, the accused was on a form of release at the time of the offences. Ultimately we located, arrested and charged the accused with attempted murder and with firearm and a variety of other related offences.

The reason I wanted to highlight these three scenarios is that, one, they are the anecdotal, the real stories behind the statistics, but they also demonstrate some of the issues that we are experiencing as a police service in protecting our community and that our community is experiencing in terms of some of the anxiety they feel about feeling safe within their communities. It's representative of the vulnerabilities we are seeing in our current system and its lack of prioritization for our victims and our survivors. There's also a variety of other factors, such as access to illegal firearms and the release of repeat violent offenders.

On concerns and considerations to victims and survivors, while the bail system and access to illegal firearms create barriers to addressing IPV, they also affect us in other spaces. They create barriers in our ability to respond to community needs, to such things as carjackings, home invasions, extortions, shootings—all things that are incredibly important to our community here in Peel.

I would offer that last week we arrested 18 men for carjackings and home invasions in Peel. Of those 18 people, we held 15 of them for bail hearings. Of the 15 that we held for bail hearings, by the time we made the press conference announcement, nine of them had already been released.

From January until July 18 of this year we have had 87 carjackings, which is a 58% increase from 2023. We've had 54 violent home invasions. That is a 350% increase from last year, and very similar to some of the issues we're experiencing with our ability to prevent intimate partner violence, and I will say, gender violence, is we continue to see some of these issues as barriers to our ability to address that.

We know through the public record that in 2022 there were 256 people charged with homicide while on some form of release, including those who were on house arrest or parole. In total, there were 874 homicides in Canada in 2022. The 256 people charged while on release would equate to 29% of all the homicides across our country. This is, again, a trend that we are seeing here locally. Too often we are seeing violent and tragic incidents that are being committed by high-risk repeat offenders who have a blatant disregard for their release conditions and, more importantly, the safety of others or the preservation of life.

The prevalence of firearms in our region is a huge concern, and we are allocating every possible resource to seize illegal firearms within our community. In fact, this past weekend, we laid numerous firearms related charges against a variety of people. We are seeing kids as young as 14 and 15 years old possessing these firearms. In Peel alone, we are seizing an illegal firearm every 24 hours. These are the firearms that are used to commit a variety of offences, inclusive of offences against some of our more vulnerable or priority populations specific to intimate partner violence.

We continue to advocate for Criminal Code changes that would expand reverse onus offences towards violent and repeat offenders, especially those charged with our most violent offences and firearms related offences. It includes intimate partner violence and prior offences committed to intimidate, threaten or cause fear to an intimate partner regardless of the use of violence.

Violent offenders pose a risk to community safety. We are consistently advocating for stronger measures to protect women, children and everyone in our community from all types of violence, including gender-based violence, and access to illegal firearms and a higher threshold for bail and other release for violent offenders are important parts of that equation.

With that, I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Excellent. Thank you all very much for your opening remarks.

At this point going to move to rounds of questions from members.

I would also like to remind all of those in the room and all of the members posing questions that we are here about intimate partner violence against women, so let's try and keep our focus there.

I would like to welcome Michelle to take the floor for six minutes.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses. It's extremely powerful testimony. To call this a crisis is an understatement, and the connection between each of your testimonies is profound.

Cait, I know you wanted to say a few more things. To me, what jumped off the page of what you said, above all of the horrific things, like calling it “alleged” when you have all of those photos of your assault, was that “he is publicly and personally rewarded for it.” Those are your words about your attacker. Can you expand on what you mean by that legally in Canada?

[Cait Alexander]

Abusers don't think in the same way the average person does, which is why they are able to commit the offences that you or I wouldn't commit. Abusers get off on the reward of being allowed to commit these offences. I have video taken of my ex and his enjoyment of what he did to me and knowing that the government said, “Well, this isn't a big deal.” I will quote the Crown attorney, who said, “We don't have time for this.”

He is publicly rewarded because he feels like he is above the law. He is personally rewarded because he is six feet, three inches and 250 pounds. He can push me around, no matter if I had a black belt or otherwise. He has a son who is in his care, and this was overlooked. There is an open case with CPS, and nothing was done. The federal ombudsperson has called on our behalf. Nothing was done.

His rewards are that he gets to operate however he chooses to. There are no consequences for his actions, and I guarantee that if he is not stopped, he will be a part of the homicide statistics. He will kill someone. He came damn close to it with me on this day.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

The irony of it being on this day, and then your testimony today.... I know you flew a long way to testify here today. I know your parents are also here. I think one of the things we don't address is the impact on families and children as well. The deputy chief talked about this.

I guess what I'm trying to get at, at the heart of this meeting, is this: What changes do we have to do? You were poignant in saying that you have a Canadian passport but you don't feel safe in this country. You know, we have a letter from the premiers, all premiers across this country, asking for bail reform, and you're saying you don't feel safe. It's a publication ban without consent.

To the deputy chief's point, you have a blatant disregard...so you can see the connection between Cait's testimony and the deputy chief's testimony.

Perhaps I would go to the deputy chief and ask what needs to be done federally. To Ms. Walker's point, if the money was being spent the way it's said it's being spent, we wouldn't see an increase, we would see a decrease. Yet we have the worst numbers we've ever seen.

Deputy Chief, could I get you to say on record what needs to be done? Do you agree with this bail reform letter that the premiers have signed? How much of this can be reversed in policy federally?

[D/Chief Nick Milinovich]

Let me first say that I really appreciate the question. I also want to commend everybody who has come here for this meeting, particularly survivors who are sharing their stories.

I do agree with the need to create some change. The question was very direct: What can be done? The answer will also be very direct and very simple. What we need to begin doing is to reprioritize the consideration for victims and survivors in a way that allows them to feel safe in their communities, at its most basic.

We've heard testimony today and I've spoken with survivors myself. I've had multiple conversations with people who unfortunately have been targeted or who have experienced similar scenarios. The reality is that they don't feel safe and they don't feel supported by our current system. When a person does build up the courage to notify police, who are supposed to protect them, we go and we arrest that person. We charge them. The idea is that this results in the person no longer being a threat. The reality is that, from the statistics we've seen and are currently experiencing, it's quite probable that the person will continue to be a threat to the survivor or the person who's built up the courage to engage police.

At its basic level, that is what needs to change.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you.

I have such limited time, and this is such a big topic, but I think we have to get to the nuts and bolts of it. We have two bills, Bill C-5 and Bill C-75.

I would ask for a yes-or-no answer from you, Deputy Chief. Are these bills...? Cait said it beautifully, that nobody seems to care, but if these policies were changed tomorrow, would this give you more freedom to be able to keep people from hurting more people?

[D/Chief Nick Milinovich]

You know, definitely, it is.... We will continue to take advantage of every opportunity and every change we made. I want to be clear that this is not me advocating.... Well, of course, I'm here, and I'm wearing a police uniform and I'm representing Peel police, but I am really representing my community, who are not feeling as though the current system is supporting them and considering their interests in the way they feel and the victimization, so contemporarily, it's not working for our community.

We need to make change. We need to begin looking at such issues as bail and the prevalence of illegal firearms and at the prioritization of issues for our community, gender-based violence, human trafficking and those types of things.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

At this point, Anita, you have six minutes.