Senator Boisvenu: Would the senator take another question?

Senator Boisvenu: Quebec will only require these devices for offenders who have been convicted because Quebec does not have jurisdiction over the accused.

My last question is the following. You say that the requirement for the electronic monitoring device would apply to offenders in federal custody.

That is not at all the case. My bill would apply to anyone who has been charged. Why did you say in your brief that the bill applies to offenders in federal custody?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu introduced Bill S-238, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (information about the victim).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Thank you, senator.

I very much enjoyed reading your brief. However, I have some questions about some of the information you provided.

Yes, it is true that most of the women, nearly three quarters, are murdered before the accused can appear before a judge. It is also worth noting that, in the majority of cases, there will be no trial. Instead, the court will impose an 810 — an order to keep the peace.

That means many of these women will never see their husband, partner or former partner go before a judge and be tried.

In many cases, 810s have replaced the trial process. Without a monitoring tool like the one I am proposing in the bill, I believe that many, many women will die in the next few years.

That said, you state in your brief that the electronic monitoring device could be dangerous and, in the same sentence, you state that in a Spanish study of 800 women who were given an electronic monitoring device only 2 were murdered.

Do you not see the contradiction in these two statements? On the one hand you say that the electronic monitoring device is dangerous but, on the other, there were only two murders in Spain where they have been using such a device for 15 years.