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House Hansard - 112

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 18, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 112 - Oct/18/22
Mr. Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, NDP)
  • Oct/18/22 2:14:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the pandemic came a spike in calls to frontline agencies for help with domestic violence. Like the pandemic, that increase has not faded away. In the previous Parliament and again this June, the justice committee unanimously recommended that the government bring forward legislation to make coercive and controlling behaviour in intimate partner relationships a criminal offence as one additional tool to help fight intimate partner violence. Unfortunately, when the government tabled its recent response, there was no sense of urgency. In Canada, we continue to see a woman killed by an intimate partner, on average, every six days, and coercive and controlling behaviour is almost always a precursor to this physical violence. In the face of government inaction, New Democrats will be seeking other ways to make sure victims and survivors get access to the help they need, with both improved access to support and making coercive and controlling behaviour a criminal offence in my private member's bill, Bill C-202. I ask all members of the House to continue to support concrete action to address the ongoing scourge of intimate partner violence in Canada.
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