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Government Orders

Protecting Victims Act

2026-06-04 / Sitting 129 / No matching statements

The Protecting Victims Act amends various laws to increase penalties for certain crimes, especially those involving intimate partner violence and child sex crimes. It creates new offenses like coercive control of an intimate partner, expands the definition of first-degree murder to include some killings of women, and makes other changes like allowing sentences below mandatory minimums in some cases to avoid cruel and unusual punishment. In debate, the governing Liberals argued the bill gets tougher on crime while staying within constitutional limits. The opposition Conservatives accused the government of inserting a "poison pill" that would let judges go below mandatory minimum sentences too easily, which the Conservatives said they oppose. Both sides claimed to support better protecting women and children, but argued over this provision.