Victim Protection
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (victim protection)
Summary
- Adds fines up to $100,000, on top of existing imprisonment, for human trafficking and related offences, and requires consecutive sentences for trafficking convictions.
- Revises the definition of exploitation in trafficking by removing the need for victims to show a reasonable apprehension of fear, focusing instead on any form of coercion.
- Eliminates preliminary inquiries for a set of serious sexual, trafficking, procuring, and related offences to reduce duplicative proceedings.
- Clarifies that courts may order witnesses to testify from locations outside the courthouse to better protect vulnerable witnesses.
- Allows admission of victim video statements made within a reasonable time after the alleged offence when testifying could endanger the victim’s health, with judicial safeguards on use and admissibility.
Builder Assessment
Overall, the bill modestly aligns by streamlining elements of criminal proceedings and strengthening tools that can reduce re-traumatization of victims, with potential efficiency gains for the justice system. There are cost and legal-risk trade-offs that warrant careful implementation to protect safety and fairness for Canadians.
- Streamlines process by removing duplicative preliminary inquiries for specified offences and enabling remote testimony/video evidence, which can reduce adjournments and travel costs.
- Enhances victim protection and access to justice, supporting safer communities that underpin economic activity.
- Risk: mandatory consecutive sentences may raise corrections expenditures; consider allowing judicial discretion in limited circumstances or providing offsetting efficiency measures.
- Risk: narrowing exploitation to coercion could weaken cases based on deception or abuse of trust; consider retaining a broader definition while removing the fear requirement.
- Implementation: ensure technology, privacy, and training resources for remote testimony and video evidence; monitor impacts on trial length, appeals, and victim outcomes.
Question Period Cards
What empirical evidence demonstrates that abolishing preliminary inquiries for serious sexual and trafficking offences will reduce delays rather than increase Charter challenges and wrongful conviction risks under the Jordan framework?
Given mandatory consecutive sentences will likely extend time in custody, what is the plan to resource provincial and federal corrections and reintegration supports without diverting funding from frontline victim services?
By redefining exploitation to focus on coercion, how will prosecutors secure trafficking convictions in cases primarily built on deception or abuse of trust, and will the government issue guidance or amendments to prevent unintended acquittals?
Principles Analysis
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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.
Primarily a criminal justice measure with limited direct impact on overall economic prosperity.
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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).
Does not materially change the regulatory burden on businesses or entrepreneurs; focuses on criminal enforcement.
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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness, including removing interprovincial trade barriers and improving labour mobility (one country, one market).
No effect on internal trade, credential mobility, or national market integration.
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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources, and move up the value chain by processing resources domestically rather than exporting them raw.
Not related to trade, export growth, or value-added resource processing.
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Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.
Indirect public-safety benefits may help communities, but there is no direct linkage to investment or innovation policy.
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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).
Eliminating preliminary inquiries for specified offences and enabling remote testimony/video evidence can reduce duplicative proceedings and streamline trials, though longer incarceration from consecutive sentences could raise corrections costs.
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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.
No tax measures are affected.
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Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.
Addresses criminal procedure and victim protection rather than economic-scale outcomes.
Did we get the builder vote wrong?
Email [email protected]
PartyMember of Parliament
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedN/A
TopicsCriminal Justice, Public Safety
Parliament45