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e-3411 (Justice)

E-petition
Initiated by Andrea Silverstone from Calgary, Alberta

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Minister of Justice

Whereas:
  • Rates of intimate partner violence in Canada have risen during the pandemic by up to 30%;
  • A woman is killed by her intimate partner approximately every 6 days in Canada;
  • The current understanding of intimate partner violence and domestic violence needs to be changed to include coercive and controlling behaviour to fully reflect the many shapes that violence takes; and
  • Police and the justice system lack adequate tools to effectively intervene in situations of coercive and controlling behaviour because they are not captured in current criminal law.
We, the undersigned, Residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Justice to:
1. Act expeditiously on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights report entitled “The Shadow Pandemic: Stopping Coercive and Controlling Behaviour in Intimate Relationships” including establishing the task force called for in the report as soon as possible;
2. Recognize the urgency of tabling legislation in the House that would add a coercive and controlling behaviour offence to the Criminal Code of Canada without delay; and
3. Ensure substantive recommendations are presented to the federal, provincial, and territorial governments on how to improve supports for survivors of coercive and controlling behaviour in their interactions with the legal system and in re-establishing their lives.
Open for signature
May 14, 2021, at 4:08 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
June 13, 2021, at 4:08 p.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke)
June 21, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01184)
Photo - Randall Garrison
Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia