Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition brought forward by a passionate group of residents in my community who remain deeply concerned that our laws continue to fail to safeguard the victims of intimate partner violence. Most situations of intimate partner violence begin with patterns of behaviour that involve severe mental, emotional and psychological abuse, yet our justice system and our police system too often fail to recognize this abuse and to intervene before the violence begins.
The petitioners are asking us to look at legislation criminalizing this behaviour in the U.K., Ireland and Australia. They would like the Government of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to criminalize targeted mental and emotional abuse. They are also asking for changes to be reflected in our bail and judicial system, as well as in law enforcement training, so we can recognize and investigate this abuse.