Status of Women Committee on Nov. 6th, 2024

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you very much.

I only have a minute left, and I wanted to address another point.

There are some key recommendations from the National Police Federation. I'd like to get your thoughts on them.

One of them includes ensuring that justices of the peace actually have some legal background. JPs are the ones who decide on bail, and often they don't have any legal background whatsoever.

The other two recommendations are that provinces and territories share data among one another so that they have more information when they're exercising their discretion, as well as an enforceable bail monitoring system so that we actually know if somebody has violated the terms of their bail conditions or if they're not where they're supposed to be.

Do any of you want to add anything to that?

[Manon Monastesse]

We see this all across the country. The problem really is violations of bail conditions. What happens when a spouse or any abuser does not comply with their conditions? Police officers, who lack training to properly assess the situation, believe they can't do anything, so they don't intervene. For example, they might say that all the man did was send the woman a letter to tell her that he still likes her, but that's coercive control. That's why it's important to criminalize coercive control. Once it's criminalized, officers can recognize behaviours that constitute coercive control, and they know they have a legal tool they can use to intervene and incarcerate these men who don't comply with their bail conditions. Failure to comply with conditions is supposed to automatically result in the person's imprisonment. That's what keeps victims and children safe.

So, yes, the way the judicial system deals with people who violate their conditions is a major problem.

We have worked with coroners across Canada, and their reports are very clear on this. In many cases, conditions are violated repeatedly leading up to the murders of women and children.

That's why it's important to pass coercive control legislation and enforce the law. Failure to comply with conditions must automatically lead to an arrest because that is a Criminal Code offence. Often, when a victim reports a violation, the police say they don't have any evidence, but the victim's word is evidence.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

That's perfect. Thank you.

At this point, that does conclude our panel for the evening. I certainly would like to thank all the witnesses for being here, for their testimony and for the remarks they've shared with everyone.

Is it the will of the committee to adjourn?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

The meeting is adjourned.