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Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Randall Garrison

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $148,586.11

  • Government Page
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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Context: House Hansard - 4 - Nov/25/21
Mr. Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-202, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct). He said: Mr. Speaker, today I rise to reintroduce my bill to make coercive and controlling behaviour in intimate partner relationships a criminal offence. This new offence would allow victims of coercive and controlling violence to get desperately needed help and would allow earlier interventions in problematic relationships rather than having to wait for physical violence to occur. During this pandemic, we have heard reports from police and front-line service providers that domestic violence calls for assistance spiked by more than 30%, an alarming intensification of what was already a serious problem in the country. In the last Parliament, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights studied this issue, and all-party support resulted in a unanimous report, calling on the House to take action within a year, either on my bill or a similar government bill. I thank the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam for seconding the reintroduction of my bill today. Addressing the issue of coercive and controlling violence is not a matter of partisanship. It is a necessary step toward addressing the shadow pandemic of domestic violence that has hit women and families so hard during this pandemic. I urge all members to support quick action on this challenging problem that will literally save lives.
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