Overview
- In a report published Tuesday, the House committee on the status of women issued 16 recommendations that include continuing to support efforts to make coercive control a criminal offence, with an emphasis on training, public education and victim services.
- Committee chair Marilyn Gladu said she wants criminalization to proceed and believes there is all‑party support to move forward.
- A previous private member’s bill to criminalize coercive control passed the House and reached the Senate but lapsed when Parliament was dissolved.
- The report notes that the Supreme Court of Canada recognizes coercive and controlling behaviour as family violence and points to recent laws in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Australia as context.
- Witnesses cautioned that securing convictions abroad has been difficult because the offence involves proving a pattern of cumulative acts, and the committee advised against a rigid list of behaviours in any definition.