Critics both inside and outside of government have accused the Conservatives of not doing enough to tackle family violence, the Ottawa Citizen reported last week.
They argue that the new omnibus anti-crime bill (C-2), which cracks down on gun- and gang-related violence, virtually ignores the violence done within Canadian households.
“Directly, there is nothing in this so-called Tackling Violent Crime bill that actually addresses the issue of conjugal violence, family violence, head-on,” Liberal MP and justice critic Marlene Jennings told the Citizen.
Jennings claimed the government is more interested in “garnishing headlines that portray them as being tough on crime and playing on people’s fears and insecurities” than in doing something to curb the far more prevalent crime of spousal homicide, for example.
As Statistics Canada reported one year ago, 40 per cent of the solved homicides that occurred in Canada in 2005 involved violence committed by either a spouse, ex-spouse or lover or by a parent, child or other relative of the deceased. In 2006, there were 78 spousal homicides, four more than a year earlier and the first increase in five years.
But as the Citizen also noted, the government’s emphasis on gang violence may have more to do with trends than total numbers. According to Statistics Canada, the spousal homicide rate fell by 52 per cent between 1977 and 2005, while the number of gang-related homicides has been rising steadily since 1995 to 16 per cent of homicides in 2005.
Some experts believe Bill C-2 could actually have an indirect, albeit small, impact on family violence.
Dr. Katreena Scott, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said she welcomed the provision to make it easier to label certain violent criminals as dangerous offenders.
“For that very small proportion of offenders, it might make sense for us to be able to be strict in terms of labelling a dangerous offender,” she said.
Holly Johnson, a part-time professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, said she supports the sections against gun traffickers which would help reduce the presence of illegal guns in households – guns which could be used when family disputes get out of control.
On Monday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced an additional anti-crime measure aimed at getting tough on violent young offenders, Canadian Press reported.
The proposed amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act “are intended to help hold young lawbreakers accountable to their victims and their community, and instill within them a sense of responsibility for their delinquent or criminal behaviour,” he said.
The bill would also give judges more latitude to keep accused young people deemed to be a danger to public safety in custody while awaiting trial.
