News

Keira’s Law (Bill C-233) has passed!

Keira’s Law, Bill C-233 (An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Judges Act (violence against an intimate partner), which was introduced in the House of Commons as a private member’s bill in February 2022, passed third reading the Senate yesterday, April 18, 2023. Jo-Anne Dusel, PATHS Executive Director, was quoted during the third reading of the Bill.

There are two very important pieces to this Bill: training for judges on IPV and coercive control and a requirement for judges to consider adding electronic monitoring as a condition of release orders for people who have been charged with offences against their intimate partners.

PATHS has advocated for Keira’s law to pass, including meeting with Senators and MPs. Read a letter from PATHS highlighting some of the evidence for these changes here.

Read a news story about the loss of Keira, a four-year-old who was killed by her father after a failure by the family court system, here.