Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Justice minister says Canada remains 'open' to criminalizing coercive control

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Aug, 2023 01:01 PM
  • Justice minister says Canada remains 'open' to criminalizing coercive control

The federal government remains open to criminalizing a pattern of behaviour known as coercive control, Canada's justice minister says in a new letter, calling gender-based violence an "epidemic" that must be stopped.

The recent letter from Arif Virani to Ontario's chief coroner outlined the Liberal government's response to a series of recommendations that came from an inquest into the 2015 slayings of three women in the rural Renfrew County area, about 180 kilometres west of Ottawa.

Carol Culleton, Nathalie Warmerdam and Anastasia Kuzyk were all murdered that September by Basil Borutski, who had a criminal history of violence against women. 

Borutski, who had prior, separate relationships with all three of his victims, had been released from prison the year before the murders. 

Last summer, a coroner's inquest into the deaths heard that at least one of the women had been trying to learn of his whereabouts once he was released, and that Borutski had been deemed a high-risk offender while in custody. 

The inquest resulted in more than 80 recommendations directed at different levels of government in the hopes of preventing similar homicides.

One called on Ottawa to create a new offence in the Criminal Code that targets coercive control, which experts on intimate partner violence say is the controlling behaviour that an abuser exerts over someone. 

Virani's letter points to a commitment the government made in response to a 2021 report from a parliamentary committee that explored the possibility of criminalizing controlling behaviour, saying the Liberals are still "open" to creating a new offence.

"Gender-based violence … including intimate-partner violence … is unacceptable and has no place in our country," he wrote in a letter dated Monday.

"The government of Canada is committed to ending the (gender-based violence) epidemic in all its forms, and is working to address any gaps in the Criminal Code to ensure a robust justice system response." 

Virani pointed to the government's existing commitment to monitor how making coercive control a criminal offence is working in other jurisdictions, such as Scotland.

Experts in Canada and around the world define coercive control as set of behaviours ranging from harassment and intimidation to isolating someone from family and social supports to keep them under the abuser's control. 

Many believe such tactics can escalate to physical violence, with researchers and police having long accepted there are often early warning signs in cases of intimate partner violence. 

And many high-profile cases, including homicides and murder-suicides, have highlighted that many people sensed victims were in danger before they were killed.

Federal statistics from 2018 show that 44 per cent of women who have been in relationships reported experiencing some form of abuse from a partner. 

Canada already has a provision under the Divorce Act that says a court should factor in family violence, including "coercive and controlling behaviour," when it comes to issuing contact orders around children. 

An additional recommendation out of last summer's inquest was for the federal government to work to find alternative ways for domestic violence complainants to testify in court.

Another called on Ottawa to explore adding the term "femicide" to the Criminal Code. 

"I note that, while there is no single agreed-upon definition of 'femicide' in the national or international context, the term is widely understood to refer to the killing of women, primarily by men, because of their gender," Virani wrote in his letter. 

"I agree with the United Nations and the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability when they note that femicide is the most extreme form of violence and discrimination against women and girls."

MORE National ARTICLES

Province announces 100K in mental health for South Asians

Province announces 100K in mental health for South Asians
The funding will support three part-time outreach workers and others who will engage South Asians who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. The supports are expected to help between 50 and 75 people who use drugs as well as 150 to 200 family members.  

Province announces 100K in mental health for South Asians

Thousands mourn Sikh leader's funeral

Thousands mourn Sikh leader's funeral
Thousands of mourners from the Sikh community descended upon the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on Sunday morning, to pay respects to the Gurdwara president, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was shot mutliple times a week ago in the parking lot of the Gurdwara and killed in his truck.

Thousands mourn Sikh leader's funeral

Advocates urge B.C. leaders to halt planned evictions at Abbotsford, B.C., tent camp

Advocates urge B.C. leaders to halt planned evictions at Abbotsford, B.C., tent camp
The BC Civil Liberties Association and Pivot Legal Society want Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon to stop any evictions at the Lonzo Park encampment, located on provincially owned land originally intended as a park-and-ride in Abbotsford. The letter reminds Kahlon that several B.C. Supreme Court rulings have found forcible eviction is illegal when other housing options are inadequate.  

Advocates urge B.C. leaders to halt planned evictions at Abbotsford, B.C., tent camp

Man in hospital with serious injuries, IIO called in

Man in hospital with serious injuries, IIO called in
A man is in hospital with serious injuries and B-C's independent police watchdog -- the Independent Investigations Office -- has been called to the scene. The I-I-O says police say they were called to a report of a potentially impaired driver on Highway 1 through West Vancouver and told investigators there was an exchange of gunfire as they arrived.

Man in hospital with serious injuries, IIO called in

Sunshine Coast shooting victim identified

Sunshine Coast shooting victim identified
Investigators say a 56-year-old from Sechelt died from multiple gunshot wounds early Thursday morning. The victim was found outside a residence in Halfmoon Bay and died at the scene.

Sunshine Coast shooting victim identified

Abbotsford home invasion, 3 arrested

Abbotsford home invasion, 3 arrested
Police in Abbotsford, B-C, have arrested three suspects in connection with a home invasion this week. R-C-M-P say officers responded to a call Friday afternoon in the 33-thousand block of George Ferguson Way area.

Abbotsford home invasion, 3 arrested