Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu introduced Bill S-255, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (murder of an intimate partner, one’s own child or an intimate partner’s child).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: You are quite right, Senator Audette. Men need to walk with you in your path because violence against women is above all a men’s issue.

Honourable senators, today, I ask you to join with me in honouring the memory of Véronique Barbe, a 41-year-old woman and mother who was murdered by her husband in her home in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, on September 14, 2017.

On March 3, I introduced Bill S-238 in the Senate, a bill that bears her name and is dedicated to her. This bill is the result of a collaborative effort with her family to prevent any offender from posting photos, videos or other information concerning victims on social media.

Véronique’s murderer refused to take down his profile picture on Facebook, photographs of Véronique and other pictures he had shared on his Facebook page.

Honourable senators, this dishonours the victim’s memory and is an affront to her family. Véronique’s parents will spend every minute of their lives with the memory of the loss of their daughter, who was taken from them so brutally. It is unfair that they have to fight yet again to ensure respect for their daughter’s memory.

After a three-year fight, Véronique’s parents have finally managed to get the murderer’s Facebook account closed and receive an apology from the social media network. Unfortunately, a YouTube video posted by the murderer online shortly before the tragedy, which shows him with Véronique, is still accessible, despite several reports and requests to have this inappropriate content removed.

Honourable senators, let us all stand behind this family and report the video entitled Intro Ugo & Véro in order to have YouTube remove it. This video dishonours the memory of Véronique Barbe.

I also want to remind this chamber of the importance of studying Bill S-238 so that victims’ families will no longer have to take steps to have content removed that dishonours the memory of their loved one. Going forward, the justice system would be responsible for that.

Honourable colleagues, Véronique’s story is the story of a young woman who was killed as a result of domestic violence. This scourge kills far too many women across the country and it is another pandemic that we must tackle. We need to talk about it and mobilize to put a stop to these endless femicides.

I would remind senators that 173 women were murdered in Canada in 2021, 26 of them in Quebec, and two thirds in the context of domestic violence. Last September, a young 36‑year‑old woman, Karine Bélanger, was murdered and her body set on fire by her partner in Saint-Bernard, in Beauce. He had a long criminal record, and the Quebec parole board released him even though he was at high risk of reoffending and he had violated his parole conditions.

This victim’s mother stated the following:

They knew that he was very dangerous. Yet, they let him out. They put him in a halfway house. There was a disconnect and my daughter paid for it . . . .

Honourable senators, let us take action to put an end to this scourge. Thank you.