Government of Canada introduces legislation to combat intimate partner violence
COQUITLAM, BC, April 1, 2021 /CNW/ - Intimate-partner violence (IPV) hurts victims as well as their families. IPV can and does occur in all settings and among all socioeconomic, religious and cultural groups. Abuse can be physical, sexual, verbal or financial, and women and children are the most frequent victims. The violence associated with IPV can be particularly terrifying and is more often fatal when the abuser has access to a firearm.
The Government of Canada is committed to protecting public safety and combatting IPV. On February 16, 2021, the Government introduced new firearms legislation to keep Canadians safe and to make sure that guns stay out of the hands of people who may pose a serious risk to themselves or others.
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, participated in a virtual roundtable with organizations in Coquitlam that support victims of intimate-partner violence and gender-based violence. During their discussion, the Minister highlighted the important work carried out in supporting women and other individuals at risk. The Minister also had the opportunity to detail how the Government's proposed firearms legislation is designed to help prevent and deter intimate-partner violence, including:
- Combatting intimate-partner and gender-based violence, and self-harm involving firearms by creating "red flag" and "yellow flag" laws. These laws would allow people, such as concerned friends or relatives, to apply to the courts for the immediate removal of an individual's firearms, and allow a Chief Firearms Officer to suspend and review an individual's licence privileges to acquire or use firearms.
- Fighting gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, enhancing the capacity of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Border Services Agency to combat the illegal importation of firearms, and increasing the ability of the RCMP to share firearms licence information with local police to help investigate straw purchasing (legal purchase and then illegal diversion of firearms to the black market).
- Helping create safer communities by supporting municipalities that ban handguns through bylaws in their jurisdictions by imposing federal storage and transportation restrictions. Individuals who violate these restrictions would be subject to federal penalties, including licence revocation and criminal sanctions.
- Giving young people the opportunities and resources they need to avoid criminal behaviour by providing funding to municipalities and Indigenous communities to support youth programs.
- Protecting Canadians from gun violence by creating new offences for altering the cartridge magazine component of a firearm and depicting violence in firearms advertising, introducing tighter restrictions on imports of ammunition, and prohibiting the import, export, sale, and transfer of all replica firearms.
- Completing the prohibition of assault-style firearms to ensure these weapons cannot be legally used, transported, sold, transferred, or bequeathed by individuals in Canada. We also intend to move forward with a buyback program in the coming months to support the safe removal of these firearms from our communities.
This legislation builds on previous measures to keep guns out of our communities, including prohibiting assault-style firearms, expanding background checks for firearms licence applicants to cover their lifetime, including a history of domestic violence and making online threats, and providing $327.6 million through the Initiative To Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence to support provincial, territorial and community-level prevention and enforcement efforts to tackle the increase in gun-related violence and gang activity.
Find family violence resources and services in your area.
Quote(s)
"Intimate-partner violence, in any relationship and at any time, is wrong. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening among your family, your friends and your neighbours. Most IPV victims are women. They are afraid - not only for themselves but for their children - and they suffer in silence. Their fear increases when their abuser owns, or has access to, a firearm. Our Government is committed to strengthening gun control measures - including introducing red flag laws - that would give IPV victims the power to quickly remove firearms from their abuser."
- The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Quick Facts
- There were over 107,000 victims of police-reported intimate-partner violence (IPV) in Canada in 2019. For 660 victims of IPV, a firearm was present. Women accounted for almost 8 in 10 victims of all IPV incidents and they were even more likely to be the victim in the 660 IPV incidents where a firearm was present.
- A Justice Canada study estimated the cost of one type of intimate-partner violence, spousal violence, on Canadian society at $7.4 billion in 2009. Most were related to victim costs, such as pain and suffering, counselling expenses and legal fees for divorce, while the next highest costs were borne by third parties (e.g., families, employers and social services) and the criminal and civil justice systems (e.g., police, courts, corrections).
- Only 30% of Canadians say police are aware of incidents where their spouse had been violent or abusive. This means that many incidents of family violence never come to the attention of the police.
- The rates of violent and non-violent offences specific to firearms increased for the fifth consecutive year in 2019. The number of violent offences specific to firearms increased by 21% (an increase of 642 from 2,861 to 3,503).
Related Products
- Prime Minister announces new firearms measures to combat crime and increase public safety
- Prime Minister announces ban on assault-style firearms
- Royal Assent of legislation; strengthening gun laws to keep communities safe
- New investments to help end gun and gang violence in Canada
- Major new federal funding and summit to tackle gun violence and gang activity
Associated Links
- Bill C-21: An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms)
- A Focus on Family Violence in Canada: The Chief Public Health Officer's Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2016
- Police-reported intimate partner violence in Canada, 2019
- Victims of police-reported intimate partner and non-intimate partner violence, by gender of victim, type of weapon present and level of injury, Canada, 2019 (Note: Excludes data from Quebec)
- Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2019
- Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2016
- It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (the Strategy)
- Fact Sheet: Intimate Partner Violence
- Stop Family Violence
- HealthLinkBC: Domestic Violence
- Fall Economic Statement 2020
SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
News published on and distributed by:
