National News
Leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Tories call on all parties to back tougher sentences for intimate partner violence
Published 10:26 PDT, Tue October 28, 2025
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on other parties on Tuesday to support a private members' bill he said intends to combat intimate partner violence, as new statistics show the number of reports of such violence has grown.
"There are countless 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 call came after Statistics Canada released a report showing reports of intimate partner violence increased 14 per cent between 2018 and 2024. The report also noted 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 rise in cases on what he calls the federal Liberals' lax approach to criminal justice and is calling for stricter penalties.
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 to bar someone arrested for an intimate partner offence from being released if they have been convicted of a similar offence in the previous five years.
Caputo said his legislation 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, whose niece was a victim of intimate partner violence.
Henderson's niece, Bailey McCourt, was killed in July by her ex-husband.
She said she's tired of seeing similar stories in the news and is demanding change through the passage of Bill C-225.
"There's no need to wait. 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," she said, holding back tears.
– Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
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