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.