Tories call on all parties to back tougher sentences for intimate partner violence

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on other parties Tuesday to support a private member’s bill he said would combat intimate partner violence — just as a new report tracks how the problem has grown in recent years.

Bill C-225, introduced by Conservative MP Frank Caputo, would automatically make the killing of an intimate partner an act of first degree murder, and bar someone arrested for an intimate partner offence from being released by a peace officer if they had been convicted of a similar offence in the previous five years.

“There are countless (people) who have lost their lives because Liberal laws have turned their perpetrators loose on our streets,” Poilievre said outside the House of Commons.

“We want to work with any party to get this bill passed to protect people. We encourage every party to join with us. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit — let’s do the right thing now.”

Poilievre’s statement came after Statistics Canada released data showing reports of intimate partner violence increased 14 per cent between 2018 and 2024.

The report also notes women and girls remain overrepresented in those statistics. The number of women suffering intimate partner violence in 2024 was 3.5 times higher than the number of men.

Poilievre blamed the caseload on what he claimed was the federal Liberals’ lax approach to criminal justice and called for stricter penalties.

Caputo said his bill was developed with input from victims of intimate partner violence who want to see changes to the criminal justice system.

“We believe that the government should be dealing with this right away. And if you don’t want to listen to me, that’s fine. But perhaps they will listen to the voice of Debbie,” Caputo said, introducing Debbie Henderson.

Henderson’s niece, Bailey McCourt, was killed in July in Kelowna, B.C. Her ex-husband is charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death shortly after being freed on bail following his conviction for choking someone and uttering threats.

“There’s no need to wait,” Henderson told Tuesday’s press conference, holding back tears. “The next person could be you, or it could be one of your family members. And we don’t want to see any other family member go through the horror that our family has gone through.”

During question period Tuesday, Caputo pressed the Liberals to say whether they would support the legislation.

Liberal MP Nathalie Provost, who survived the Polytechnique shooting in 1989, suggested the government will back its own approach instead of the one proposed by the Conservatives.

“What is important is to have a broad and integrated approach and there are already bills that we have tabled and that will allow us to act,” she said.

In a media statement, Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s spokesperson Lola Dandybaeva said the minister has spoken with Caputo about the issue and the Liberals’ plan to tackle it.

She pointed to bail reform legislation introduced by the government.

“As a result, bail will be harder to obtain for those accused of serious sexual offences, including those involving choking, suffocation and strangulation. We’re ending house arrest for serious sexual assault, ensuring sentences are served in custody, not in the same communities as victims,” Dandybaeva wrote.

Earlier this month, British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma said she was hopeful the new federal bail bill would prevent a repeat of the events that led to McCourt’s death.

The Statistics Canada report found nearly half of intimate partner violence victims were living with the person accused of the crime at the time of the incident.

The agency reports that most victims of intimate partner violence in 2024 were physically assaulted (72 per cent), while nine per cent were victims of sexual offences and seven per cent were victims of criminal harassment.

Statistics Canada says the rate of family violence against seniors has increased by 49 per cent between 2018 and last year, with 7,622 senior victims of police-reported family violence reported in 2024.

A full 36 per cent of seniors who experienced family violence last year were victimized by one of their children, the agency reports.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.

— With files from Émilie Bergeron in Ottawa and Wolfgang Depner in Victoria

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press