The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met on March 25, 2026, to study Bill C-16, an act to amend certain acts in relation to criminal and correctional matters regarding child protection, gender-based violence, delays and other measures. Witnesses appearing were Andrea Silverstone (Sagesse Domestic Violence Prevention Society), Rosel Kim (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund), Alison Irons (as an individual), Vicky Law (Rise Women's Legal Centre), Kerri Thomson (Humane Canada), and Tom Stamatakis (Canadian Police Association).
Andrea Silverstone supported Bill C-16's recognition of coercive control as a distinct harm but argued the relationship scope is too narrow, recommending it be broadened to include relationships of dependency and trust to cover elder abuse, sexual exploitation, and other contexts. She called for codifying that the offence includes patterns causing serious alarm or distress affecting day-to-day activities, providing a list of illustrative factors to reduce overreliance on physical markers, and including an interpretive note that coercive control is transcontextual. She also urged federal investment in survivor impact measurement tools, training for the justice system, and a national public education campaign, and noted that evidence from the U.K. does not show overcriminalization of minority victims.
Rosel Kim expressed caution about creating new criminal offences for coercive control and femicide without survivor-centred safeguards, warning that marginalized survivors could be charged themselves, and argued that broader systemic approaches are better. She recommended broadening exceptions to mandatory minimum sentences, maintaining the current wording of the criminal harassment provision to avoid charging survivors who must repeatedly contact abusers, and removing the requirement that a deepfake be "likely to be mistaken for a visual recording" to capture all harmful non-consensual deepfakes. She also suggested amendments to sections on sexual history evidence and third party records to reduce complexity and constitutional vulnerability, and called for federal-provincial coordination to decrease court delays rather than relying on remedies other than stays.
Alison Irons, whose daughter was murdered by an ex-intimate partner, strongly supported the coercive control offence and the provision requiring first-degree murder charges in femicide cases where a pattern of abusive behaviour is demonstrated, arguing this would counter the disproportionate laying of second-degree murder charges. She emphasized that education of the criminal justice system on coercive control is essential before implementation, as U.K. experience shows initial failures in court when violence is wrongly seen as a required element. She also noted that a conviction for coercive control would serve as an evidentiary building block for future violence or femicide, and highlighted the need for protection orders and gun seizure provisions as in Bill C-21.
Vicky Law noted that despite B.C. family law recognizing coercive control since 2013, courts and law enforcement still struggle to move beyond incident-based physical violence, and that new criminal offences require systemic work to address pervasive myths and stereotypes. She recommended adopting legislation that explicitly lists factors presumed irrelevant where allegations of sexual or spousal violence are present, as done in Quebec's Bill 73, and called for ongoing, widespread training for all legal system participants on coercive control and intimate partner violence dynamics. She also encouraged establishing an expert advisory panel prior to finalizing coercive control legislation, as recommended by the Mass Casualty Commission.
Kerri Thomson supported Bill C-16's measures addressing animal sexual abuse images, noting they are used to groom children and as tools of coercive control, but urged the committee to also criminalize the creation, distribution, and possession of non-sexual animal cruelty and torture imagery, which is used by violent online networks to recruit and desensitize youth. She recommended adding the creation and possession of animal sexual abuse imagery to the proposed offence under subsection 160(3.1), and called for mandated training for justice stakeholders on the nuances of animal abuse in relationship violence. She highlighted that only 28% of anti-violence shelters accept animals, underscoring the need for systemic supports beyond criminal law.
Tom Stamatakis broadly supported Bill C-16, saying it gives frontline police more tools to respond to coercive control, child exploitation, and delay in the justice system, and that the provisions addressing delay under the Jordan decision help restore balance by recognizing case complexity. He agreed that the legislation could be strengthened, for example by including protections for seniors who are often victims of coercive control from family or caregivers, and noted that resources for law enforcement vary across the country, with rural and remote areas being understaffed. On mandatory minimum sentences, he said they can deter and remove offenders from communities, but that underlying issues driving offences must also be addressed, and that the overrepresentation of marginalized communities requires looking at why they come into contact with police in the first place.
No procedural debate, motions, or votes occurred during this meeting.
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