Status of Women

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women met to study section 810 of the Criminal Code and women's safety, hearing from Pierre Brochet and Didier Deramond of the Association des directeurs de police du Québec, Patrick Michel and Audrey Mercier-Turgeon of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, and Louise Riendeau of the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale.

Pierre Brochet, president of the Association des directeurs de police du Québec, testified that legislative changes from Bills C-5 and C-75 have weakened public safety by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for firearms offences and expanding the principle of judicial restraint, leading to repeat offenders being routinely released. He called for the criminalization of coercive control to give police clearer tools to intervene in domestic violence cases, and welcomed Bill C-14's reverse onus provisions for certain offences as a positive step. He disagreed with the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences, arguing they are necessary for violent repeat offenders, especially those using firearms.

Patrick Michel, director of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, described Quebec's practices including vertical prosecution, where a single prosecutor handles a case from start to build trust with victims, and pre-charge approval by prosecutors. He noted that while coercive control is not yet criminalized, the DPCP has incorporated it into training and evidence assessment. He declined to comment directly on the adequacy of Bill C-14's provisions, but acknowledged that conditional sentences for sexual assault have impacted public trust, and that risk assessments for offenders are useful but cannot be court-ordered without the accused's consent.

Louise Riendeau, co-lead for political affairs at the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, emphasized that intimate partner violence is a pattern of coercive control, not isolated incidents, and called for a new criminal offence of coercive control rather than simply adding "between intimate partners" to existing offences as proposed in Bill C-225. She recommended that courts be empowered to order risk assessments for offenders, that breaches of conditions should trigger a reverse onus for release, and that police and prosecutors need better training to identify coercive control and document public interest grounds for detention. She disagreed with mandatory minimum sentences in general, fearing they could penalize women acting in self-defence, but saw a possible role for them in cases of repeat offending.

Didier Deramond, executive director of the Association des directeurs de police du Québec, experienced intermittent audio issues and was unable to provide substantive testimony.

Audrey Mercier-Turgeon, assistant director of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, noted that victims often find court delays and cross-examination extremely difficult, and that bail hearings add to prosecutors' workloads but do not necessarily require overtime.

The committee also debated and adopted a motion to allow up to three associate members per party to receive meeting notices and access the digital binder until January 26, 2026. Some members expressed discomfort with how a substitute member treated a witness, emphasizing the need for sensitivity training for all committee participants.