“Members from different parties worked together to help protect victims of intimate partner violence. I want the member to talk about why working across party lines is important for stopping this violence.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Quebec very much for sponsoring this bill. We talked a lot about collaboration between all of the parties. The minister worked with the Conservative senator, Senator Fabian Manning, to advance this bill. The Conservative members of FEWO, and our member who just spoke is doing an amazing job as chair of FEWO and I really respect the work she is doing, helped pass Bill C-225, Bailey’s law, to strengthen protections for survivors and victims of intimate partner violence. I am wondering if the member could please speak to the importance of this cross-party collaboration in advancing action on intimate partner violence.”

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  Signal 41 of 100

  Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.

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“I want the House to pass this bill. It requires the federal government to keep working to stop intimate partner violence, report on its progress every two years, and include survivors when making decisions.”

“Mr. Speaker, I stand before the House today to support Bill S-242, Georgina’s law. Above all else, I stand here in support of every victim and survivor of intimate partner violence across this country. At the heart of this bill is Georgina McGrath. For years, Georgina lived through physical, mental and emotional abuse. In 2014, her life was nearly taken away from her. Her experience is her own, but the fear, the control and the isolation she endured are a reality that far too many people across Canada know. Intimate partner violence does not always begin with physical violence or physical harm. Sometimes it begins quietly, through control over someone’s choices, their relationships and eventually their sense of safety. For many survivors, leaving does not mean the danger is over. This is what makes intimate partner violence so devastating. It can follow someone into their home, their workplace, their relationships and every part of their daily life. The numbers tell us how widespread this violence remains. In 2024, nearly eight in 10 people who reported intimate partner violence to police were women and girls. Most devastatingly, in 2024 as well, a woman in Canada was killed by an intimate partner every five days. Behind every one of these numbers, though, is a person whose life and story cannot be reduced to those statistics. While anyone can experience intimate partner violence, we know people face greater risks and greater barriers when they try to finally get help. Indigenous women, women with disabilities and those living in northern, rural and remote communities, including members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, often face greater barriers when it comes to ensuring their safety and access to justice. For many, these barriers are compounded by discrimination, language differences and limited access to services that understand their experiences. Too often, their stories are questioned and not believed. Survivors have told us what they need: a safe place to turn, someone who will listen and a system that meets their needs with understanding. They need systems that understand. That is the principle behind Canada’s work through the federal gender-based violence strategy and the national action plan to end gender-based violence. However, these are strategies and plans. They are only good if changes can be made to somebody’s life. This bill would require the Minister of Women and Gender Equality to continue leading these national efforts. For example, it would mean that a child arriving at a shelter, scared and confused, can be met with someone better equipped to understand what they have been through and to help them feel safe. Between 2021 and 2024, that work trained hundreds of shelter staff across Canada, including staff in indigenous shelters and northern communities. For a survivor who has already endured so much, having someone beside them to explain their rights and guide them through the justice system can make a very overwhelming experience a little less lonely. I myself will be forever indebted to Chrysalis House in Kentville, Nova Scotia, a women’s shelter that took me and my one-year-old in for eight weeks after we had left a situation that still shakes me to my core today. Places like Chrysalis House can mean getting help with navigating the justice system. I had received a public defender who did not even know my name, failed to show up to review my statement and forgot to attend my pretrial hearing prep. I was up against a very well-known defence attorney and large resources. Having navigators, which would be part of this bill, could mean not having to face these processes alone. This is what it means to put survivors at the centre of our work and to build systems that understand what people have lived through, but also respond to what they need most. When we speak about the importance of the work, we must also remember Georgina. After everything that she had endured, she chose to speak. She chose to use her voice, hoping that her experience could help protect someone else. Together with Senator Fabian Manning, she helped bring forward Bill S-242. Last spring, I got the chance to meet Georgina and hear about her personal story and what having this bill passed would mean to her. This bill would require the federal government to continue the national work to prevent intimate partner violence and publicly report on the progress every two years. It would also require ongoing discussions with governments, indigenous partners, victims, survivors and stakeholders about whether our response is working, and that matters. Survivors should never be brought into a conversation only after decisions have been made. Their experiences must help shape the decisions themselves, because they understand in many ways where our systems have fallen short and others might not. In speaking today about the impact of sexual violence, I would also like to add that it was an absolute honour on Monday to attend the Governor General’s 2026 award event to celebrate two extraordinary Nova Scotians whose work is also making a lasting impression in this realm. Sunny Marriner, from my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets, has spent nearly 30 years advocating for survivors of sexual violence and demanding accountability from the institutions responsible for protecting them. Her leadership has helped transform how police investigations are reviewed, with independent advocate review teams now operating in 32 communities across five provinces. Sunny recently chaired the expert advisory panel for the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime’s systemic investigation into survivors’ treatment in the criminal justice system, and testified on the institutional police response to sexual violence during Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission. Also recognized during this event was Shianne Gordon, an African Nova Scotian two-spirit queer community advocate from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with deep roots in Africville. It is through her work in violence prevention, youth outreach and supporting survivors of sexual violence that she is also helping build a safer, more inclusive community. That is the type of navigation we are talking about that is needed, and bills like this one will help bolster programs and support those giants. Both women remind us that meaningful change takes courage, compassion and commitment. It is tough work to ensure that every person is treated with dignity. On behalf of South Shore—St. Margarets, I congratulate Sunny and Shianne on this very well-deserved recognition. Nova Scotia is very proud of them. Addressing intimate partner violence should never be a partisan issue, as we are talking about today in this House. This is an issue where we can come together and protect the women in our country. Georgina chose to use her voice. We have an opportunity to make that hope a reality now, but we must also remember the women who are no longer here to share their stories, and those who remind us why this work matters. May Georgina’s law honour their memory and help ensure that other women have a chance to live the lives that they deserved. That is why I am proud to support Bill S-242.”

“I want the House to pass this bill and send it to committee. It helps fight intimate partner violence across the country. All parties agree this is an important issue, and the bill will require regular reports so we can track our progress.”

“Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and address Bill S-242 today. It is a bill that I believe has universal support. At the end of the day, when we think of intimate partner violence, we need to recognize that it is not just a women’s issue. In fact, in many ways, we also need men to step up to the plate and address the issue in a very positive and creative way. I believe that every member of Parliament understands the importance of the issue. In terms of intimate partner violence, we can think of coercive control, which often takes place, the stalking and the emotional and psychological impact of abuse. We can talk about how violence, whether it is physical, sexual or cyber, continues to grow and has become a real concern. The impacts physically, mentally and economically are significant. These are all the types of things we have to deal with when we talk about intimate partner violence and why it is so critically important that we do what we can. That is what pleases me about this debate. We have seen, in the last year or so, significant actions taken. Today it is about Bill S-242, which originated from the Senate, but members will recall Bailey’s law. Bailey’s law originated out of the Conservative caucus. We can talk about Bill C-16. I do want to spend a bit of time talking about Bill C-16 because of the significance of Canada and the national government demonstrating leadership. I note these three pieces of legislation because they amplify the fact that parliamentarians of all political entities here in Ottawa understand how important this issue is to our society. We all have a right to live in a safe society. Far too often, we hear of a victim of intimate partner violence. Every year, far too many women are murdered as a direct result. We need to recognize that not only the federal government has a responsibility. We see that within the legislation. There is a responsibility for governments of all levels and the many different stakeholders out there, all of which need to realize how important it is that we deal, in this case, with issues like Georgina’s law. I appreciate members sharing the comments that Georgina made before the Senate. It puts one face on the tens of thousands of victims of varying degrees throughout our nation every year. That is why we have seen the type of support we have seen in the debates thus far. To go back to some of the issues from a personal perspective, in terms of advocacy, I remember back in the days when I was an MLA taking a tour of Osborne House. That would have been in the 1990s. Osborne House does not exist anymore. Technically, it does. It is called Willow Place now, but it performs the same sorts of services for victims. It is important that different levels of government support these facilities, because they are providing absolutely essential services to the women in our community. These are women who have been sexually abused, physically abused and emotionally abused, and they are often scared to be in their home. They often have children. Sadly, the demand for these services is not decreasing. Collectively, we need to do a better job. I think it was over the summer that we announced over half a billion dollars to continue the fight on gender-based violence. I was glad to hear the responses we were getting from all sides of the House when we brought in Bill C-16, because there were some historic measures that were being taken. We took into consideration patterns of coercive control and making it a criminal offence, which is truly unique, not only here in Canada, but in the Commonwealth, along with the issue of femicide. It was quite encouraging to hear the expressions during that debate, and we are seeing a good sample of that in this debate dealing with issues like deepfakes and the emotional harm, the humiliation, as a direct result. Imagine being a 13-year-old girl or a full-grown adult who does not give consent to an abuser. These are the types of issues we have been dealing with over the last year, recognizing that some issues have to be raised above political partisanship. We want to see support for this legislation. We want to see it brought to committee. The Minister of Women and Gender Equality has done an outstanding job of being out there in the community. The idea of having the minister ultimately providing those reports every second year is a positive thing, because it would provide a tangible update. We can bring in laws and change laws. We can provide budgetary measures to support the issue, but we need to have the numbers. We need to see the impact that it is having. I want to extend my appreciation and thanks to those non-profit organizations and to all, females and males, who are involved in taking on this very serious societal issue.”