Justice committee  I think it's important to acknowledge how the victim feels, but I don't think there should be a burden of proof on them to establish that their trauma is significant enough to merit intervention.

Justice committee  I think it has pros and cons. I think it's better to have an objective person test, like what they have in Scotland, rather than trying to get someone to justify that their trauma is significant enough that it merits intervention. On the criminalization side, it also increases th

Justice committee  I think it's really positive to have some recognition of patterns of behaviour, because one of the challenges with policing and intervening in situations is that they might see something that they perceive as relatively minor. The implications of the control involved aren't obvio

Justice committee  Thank you. I think you're touching on a nerve for people in the anti-violence sector, who have so much expertise. If we compensated them the same way as we compensate police to arrive on the scene to respond to cases of partner violence, then we might have different outcomes. I

Justice committee  We certainly do hear a lot in our office about coercive control challenges with family court. I have more concern, to be honest, about how these issues play out in family court than how they're likely to play out in the criminal court. The interplay between the criminal justice s

Justice committee  As a researcher on youth homelessness before coming into this role, I know there were a lot of young people who would become homeless as a result of high conflict in their home. Maybe there's a high-conflict divorce that's happening, or a blended family in which the young person

Justice committee  We've been advocating for victim rights to carry the same weight as the rights of the accused. In particular, a victim should have the right to be informed of what their rights are when they report an offence. In particular, in cases of partner violence, there is independent le

Justice committee  I think there can be a combination of the definition in the law and then practice guidelines. In the U.K. they have a guide that provides comprehensive instructions on how to interpret and apply coercive control legislation. Those examples, I think, are helpful. I believe the co

Justice committee  Gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality in society. Anything we can do to strengthen gender equality has a preventative impact on gender-based violence. That was a recommendation as well from the Mass Casualty Commission. When we're looking at violence within relatio

Justice committee  Thank you. Honourable chairperson and members of the committee, we gather today on the traditional unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. In honouring the leadership, strength and wisdom of indigenous peoples, we are reminded of the profound impo

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  In our submission to the committee, we did an appendix of previous recommendations from the office. They were all provided to the committee.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for that question. I'm still learning how to address the chair, so I apologize.

Public Safety committee  That's a fancy name. For the first question, our mandate is limited. We're not able to speak to transfer decisions or how those decisions are made, so I won't speak to that. Number two is on registration. This is part of what our office advocated with Bill S-12, which has intro

Public Safety committee  Yes. I'm quite expressive, so thank you for noticing that. I think it's absolutely true that...it's unequivocal that victims don't have rights equivalent to those of offenders. Even if you look at the government, there is an army of legal professionals who are dedicated to the