QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Justice
Support for Victims of Crime
May 28, 2026
Hello, minister. Thank you for joining us this afternoon.
First, I want to acknowledge the considerable efforts that the Government of Canada has made in recent years to improve its support for people impacted by crime.
Much remains to be done, but we have come a long way, and I’m sure Canada will continue to develop its approaches to safety, protection and support. Bill C-16 and its provisions explicitly recognizing femicide as first-degree murder and coercive control as an offence are major steps forward. I hope all my colleagues will support those measures.
How do you see this modernization continuing in future justice reforms?
Thank you for that excellent question. Every time I read another story in the newspaper about femicide, it saddens me. Every femicide is a tragedy, and we have seen many examples in just the past few months. It is an ongoing tragedy. We need to take action, and that includes the measures set out in Bill C-16.
This is not just about femicide. We are also looking at the developments at the Supreme Court of Canada regarding new cases related to violence against women. At the same time, in order to fully understand the potential for future criminal activity as a result of new technologies, we need to keep a close eye on how criminal elements are evolving across the country.
The law evolves to meet the changing practices that we see. Sometimes this will be new infractions that are included in the Criminal Code, and other times it will be new tools for law enforcement, including lawful access, for example.
Specifically keeping pace with the times, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the heinous behaviour tied to the use of AI to create “deepfakes” without the consent of the subject of those “deepfakes.” We need to evolve the laws to adapt not only to shifts in behaviour but also to shifts in technology.
Thank you, minister.
