Re-introduce An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Identification of Criminals Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (COVID-19 response and other measures) to make criminal procedure reforms that adopt virtual means such as the use of virtual remote proceedings and expanded use of the telewarrant process.

Further support technological modernization of federal courtrooms and tribunals.

Support provinces and territories in the digitization and modernization of their court systems and facilitate partnerships to develop specialized technological and digital services for court operations that are safe, secure, and lead to greater and fairer access to justice.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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• Amending the Criminal Code so that it is an aggravating factor on sentencing for assault where the victim is in a domestic or dependent relationship with the person.
• Adding a provision to the Criminal Code that specifies the offence is an indictable offence and provides for a mandatory minimum penalty of two years where the Crown can show that an offence of assault, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, or aggravated assault is part of a pattern of conduct with the victim, with the Crown required to give notice before trial of its intention to seek this elevated sentence.
• Prohibiting those under peace bond or the subject of a protective order from possessing a “firearm, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance, or all such thing”.
• Enacting Clare’s Law so that when police investigate a complaint of alleged domestic violence, they are required to notify the victim of the suspect’s relevant criminal history.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

Canada’s Conservatives will support victims by:

• Making it easier for women fleeing domestic violence to hide their new location from their abusers.

• Expanding the Canada Child Benefit by $500 per month per child for the first year and $250 per month per child for the second year for women with children living in women’s shelters to help them transition to more long-term housing.

• Creating a fund to incentivize educational institutions and private sector organizations to partner with women’s shelters to provide career training for the women they serve.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

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• Hiring an additional 200 RCMP officers to combat gangs and the smuggling of guns and drugs.
  • The officers will be based in the GTA and the Lower Mainland and will help keep our communities safe.
• Establishing an entities list for criminal gangs.
  • This would eliminate the requirement for Crown Attorneys to prove that an organization is a criminal organization and would only require the Crown to prove that the accused is a member of such an organization.
• Amending the automatic detention provisions of the Criminal Code by adding:
  • “with an offence in the commission of which violence was allegedly used, threatened or attempted and the accused had previously been convicted of for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a criminal organization”.
• Amending the Criminal Code so that usage of the same firearm by two separate individuals in the commission of a crime would create a rebuttable presumption that a criminal organization committed the offences.
• Partnering with the private sector to create a Gang Exit Strategy program that will see the power of the private sector harnessed to give offenders the opportunity to escape a cycle of violence and start fresh in a new location with gainful employment and the support needed to leave behind a life of crime.
• Working with partner organizations across the country to develop and expand programs to keep youth out of gangs.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

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Continue to move forward on the development of a 10-year National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and begin negotiations with the provinces and territories within a year.

Accelerate the establishment of the Secretariat announced in Budget 2021 and put in place an accountability framework to ensure anyone facing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to services, no matter where they live.

Work with community-based anti-violence experts to track progress of the National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence.

Work with provinces and territories to enact Clare’s Law so that domestic partners who fear for their safety can request from police information about their partner’s violent history, whether that includes sexual assault, domestic violence, convictions, arrests, or restraining orders.

Work with provinces and territories to support the development of specialized sexual violence courts.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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● In collaboration with women’s and Indigenous organizations, develop a comprehensive Canada-wide plan of action – with a timetable and dedicated funding – to eliminate violence against women, girls and gender-diverse people.

● Implement all the recommendations of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

● Increase access to shelters by investing $40 million over four years in the Shelter Enhancement Program, providing more than 2,100 new and renovated spaces in first-stage shelters and hundreds of spaces in transition houses.

● Increase funding to bolster investigations and convictions in human trafficking cases.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

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Our vision of Canada is one where women’s organizations have stable core funding so that women can access the support and advocacy they need, when they need it. We will tackle femicide and we’ll deliver a National Action Plan to end gender-based violence, backed by funding to ensure that shelter services and other programs are available in all regions of the country, especially areas that have traditionally been under-served. New Democrats will update the Canada Labour Code to include ten days of paid leave for those dealing with family and domestic violence, improve police training on sexual assault, and require universities to develop plans to end sexual violence on campus. And we’ll address violence against Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQI2S+ people by working with Indigenous peoples to implement all the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry.

— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27

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Toughen our laws on banned assault weapons by making it mandatory for owners to either sell the firearm back to the government for destruction and fair compensation or have it rendered fully and permanently inoperable at government expense.

Crack down on high-capacity magazines and require that long gun magazines capable of holding more than 5 rounds be permanently altered so that they can never hold more than 5 rounds

Ban the sale or transfer of magazines that could hold more than a legal number of bullets, regardless of how they were intended to be used by the manufacturer.

Set aside a minimum of $1 billion to support provinces or territories who implement a ban on handguns across their jurisdiction, to keep our cities and communities safe.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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• Cracking down on “straw purchasing” of firearms by:
  • Amending the Firearms Act so that an individual who, on three separate occasions during a calendar year, transfers a firearm for financial consideration must have a firearms business license.
  • Amending the Criminal Code to add the following aggravating factors on sentencing:
    • The number of firearms transferred
    • Whether financial consideration was exchanged
    • The amount of monetary consideration
• Amending the Criminal Code provisions on unauthorized importing so that:
  • It is an aggravating factor on sentencing if more than one firearm is imported otherwise than under the authority of the Firearms Act
  • A mandatory minimum penalty of three years applies where the unauthorized importing occurs for financial consideration.
• Supporting specialized enforcement against illegal firearms
  • CBSA and RCMP, working closely with American authorities in the United States, will target smuggling operations before illegal firearms reach the border, including by improving and expanding the RCMP contribution to the Integrated Border Enforcement Teams.

[...]

• Amending the Criminal Code provisions on possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose to make it an aggravating factor on sentencing where an individual commits the offence while the subject of a prohibition order under the Firearms Act and had previously been convicted of an offence under that section or an offence against the person while in possession of a firearm.
  • The offence will carry a sentence of from two to ten years.
• Amending the Criminal Code provisions on the unauthorized possession of a firearm by imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of two years if the person was the subject of a prohibition order at the time of the events giving rise to the conviction or had been previously convicted of an offence involving a firearm.
• Partnering with the Ontario Provincial Police to expand the Firearms Tracing and Enforcement database nationally and taking steps to ensure that all crime guns are submitted for testing and analysis and inclusion in this database.

[...]

We will start by repealing C-71 and the May 2020 Order in Council and conducting a review of the Firearms Act with participation by law enforcement, firearms owners, manufacturers, and members of the public. We will then update legislation by introducing a simplified classification system and codifying it in law so that it is clear what types of firearms fit into each category and classification decisions can be made quickly, and with the public and firearms owners having confidence that they are not arbitrary. The legislation will also - for the first time - contain definitions of currently ambiguous terms like “variant.”

[...]

• Mandating the automatic surrender to law enforcement of firearms where an individual has been charged with an offence against the person while requiring law enforcement to return the firearms if the charge is dismissed.

• Amending the Firearms Act to authorize a hospital, mental institute, psychiatric clinic, or medical professional to give notice to the Chief Firearms Officer if they provide treatment for a mental illness to a person whom they reasonably believe possesses a firearm and may pose a danger to themself or others.

• Developing a suicide prevention strategy that encourages people – including legal firearms owners – to seek help when they need it.

  • The current system adds to the stigma associated with mental health and discourages firearms owners from seeking help.

• Amending firearms laws to ensure that no administrative expiry could lead to criminal charges or the seizure of a licence holder’s firearm(s).

  • Until an expired licence is renewed, it would remain illegal for licence holders to acquire, by any means, new firearms or ammunition.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

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Introduce legislation within its first 100 days to combat serious forms of harmful online content, specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, child sexual abuse material and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.

This would make sure that social media platforms and other online services are held accountable for the content that they host. Our legislation will recognize the importance of freedom of expression for all Canadians and will take a balanced and targeted approach to tackle extreme and harmful speech.

Strengthen the Canada Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to more effectively combat online hate.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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1. Enshrine citizens’ digital rights, including ‘the right to not be profiled online.’

● Canada can follow the lead of the European Union, and listen to the recommendations of our national Privacy Commissioner. Regulations must distinguish between demographic profiling, and more manipulative psychometric profiling techniques.

2. Reduce spread of Misinformation.

● Support research & development to improve artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for detecting misinformation, hate, and violence online, so that this content can be de-emphasized and corrected.

● Position Canada as a global leader in requiring companies who run large-scale online platforms to detect and prevent proliferation of misinformation. Hold publishers of malicious disinformation to account.

3. Support ease of access to accurate information

● Invest in initiatives and partnerships that increase citizens’ opportunities and abilities to differentiate between misinformation, and higher-quality, verifiable, evidence-based content. This includes enhancing education in media and digital literacy for all age groups.

4. Protect civil liberties and freedom of expression.

● Limit government to a regulatory rather than hands-on role in monitoring and moderating online content, and build protections that prevent suppression of lawful and accurate content, no matter how critical of government policy it may be.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

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• Strengthen human trafficking laws by making them consistent with the Palermo Protocol and removing the requirement to prove that a trafficker exercised fear or intimidation over a victim.
• Eliminate Preliminary Inquiries in cases of sexual assault to prevent the revictimization of individual victims, including children, who deserve our protection.
• Amend the Criminal Code to clarify that an offence takes place in Canada where, at the time of the offence, the victim was present in Canada.
• Implement legislation to ensure human traffickers serve consecutive sentences for multiple human trafficking offences.
• Amend the Criminal Code by adding procuring offences to the list of designated offences that may be subject to the forfeiture of proceeds of crime. This will ensure that those who profit off sexual exploitation can have their profits seized, the same as drug dealers or criminal organizations.
• Provide $100 million over five years to support training for non-provincial police forces in the areas of:
  • Sexual exploitation
  • Cyber-security and online offences; and,
  • Investigation of sexual offences.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

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● Develop a restorative justice model that will allow for transformative justice, meaningful accountability and rehabilitation of those who cause harm, greater healing for those who are victimized and those who are criminalized and imprisoned, and ultimately decreased involvement in the traditional criminal legal system.

● Design a comprehensive evaluation of restorative justice programs across the country.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

● Revitalize and resource social, economic, physical and mental health supports, particularly in light of the mass incarceration of Indigenous, Black and other racialized people.

● Ensure that prison is a last resort, where public safety necessitates imprisonment.

● Implement laws that reduce the incarceration of those with mental health issues through preventative measures.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

● Collaborate with provincial partners and communities to invest in youth mental health, education, opportunities, and success, in order to decrease the involvement of youth in the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on communities that have traditionally been either at greater risk or a greater target of law enforcement.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

● Review the treatment of young persons in the criminal justice system, assess the use of diversion and alternative measures across the country, with a particular focus on when and to whom these alternatives are offered, and the impact of diversionary programs versus full involvement in the criminal justice system.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

● Examine and assess the online threat to young and vulnerable persons, and take steps to address this situation through education and updated laws, as needed.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

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Mandate a Minister of National Security & Public Safety with securing Canadians from threats by addressing data and cybersecurity, information operations, threats from foreign actors against Canadian residents, extremist financing, space and surveillance, and industry and critical infrastructure.

Protect Canadian democracy from foreign interference. The Trudeau government adopted limited measures to address disinformation and influence operations before the 2019 federal election. Those efforts ended with the election, and the government has not developed or implemented a permanent strategy to address the long-term threat. Canada’s Conservatives will recognize that information warfare and influence operations do not simply target our election cycles but are a persistent threat to our entire democratic system.

To protect our democracy from foreign interference, we will:

 • Establish a permanent task force to address foreign interference that will:

° Address disinformation and influence operations online and on our streets and will bring together National Defence, Global Affairs, CSIS, CSE, provincial and municipal agencies, civil society, social media platforms and media.

° Address threats from foreign actors against Canadian residents, including recently reported operations against diaspora communities in Canada.

° Engage our allies and other democracies to monitor, detect, and expose foreign disinformation attacks and threats from foreign actors.

• Pass a Foreign Agents Registry Act requiring individuals and companies acting as agents of designated foreign principals (country, corporation, entity or individual) in a political or quasi-political capacity including lobbying, policy development, advertising, and grassroots mobilization to register. Requirements for disclosure would include the amount of payment, the nature of the relationship, and the activities performed.

• Make it an offence for any entity that has spent more than $100,000 in a calendar year on political activity of any kind (federal, provincial, or municipal) to receive foreign donations of any amount.

• Amend the Elections Act to:

° Prohibit any entity that receives more than 2.5% of its total donations from foreign sources during the year before the writ period from advertising during the writ period or during the pre-election period.

° Create a positive obligation to trace all funds expended by an entity during a writ period to Canadian sources.

— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18

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Enhance the current Management Advisory Board to be in line with other Canadian police services to have full oversight over the RCMP.

Bring forward clear timelines for compliance with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission recommendations.

Support an external review of the RCMP’s sanctions and disciplinary regime to review the adequacy of existing sanctions and whether sanctions are being properly applied.

Prohibit RCMP against using neck restraints and prohibit the use of tear gas or rubber bullets for crowd control.

Make the new Independent Centre for Harassment

Resolution fully external to the RCMP to ensure there can be no conflicts of interest while reviewing complaints.

Commit to a full external review of current deescalation training to ensure this training results in the safest possible outcomes for both officers and Canadians.

Work with the provinces, territories, and municipalities that contract RCMP services to make the service better connected to community social support workers.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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1. Reduce - Limit the RCMP, and its funding, to its core role

Conduct an immediate and comprehensive review of the RCMP role in policing municipalities and reserves and the RCMP’s other duties and identify areas for detasking police and reducing police spending

● Work with provinces and municipalities to reduce police spending in those jurisdictions. Urge divestment from services for which the police are not suited, and alternative models and agencies are better able to support individuals and communities. In the majority of cases, this means removing officers from services such as first responders to mental health calls, school resource officers, by-law enforcement, construction traffic policing, and the policing and criminalization of poverty.

● Advocate for an end to police street checks, carding, and arbitrary stops and detentions. These practices have been shown to disproportionately target Black and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

2. Reallocate - Invest in community and social services

● Invest funds that are divested from police services in social and community services, which are more effective in preventing and reducing crime, strengthening individuals and communities, and creating a more just society. These will include alternative responses to mental health calls, investment in afterschool programs for young persons, mental health support for youth and adults, and increased employment opportunities.

3. Review - Design and implement a more effective, transparent, accountable, and independent police oversight system

● Review the operations and decision-making process of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission and make changes to ensure that the CRCC is more accountable, effective, responsive, and transparent in its review of RCMP conduct. End the practice of allowing the RCMP to review and handle complaints made against it.

● Create a national standard for independent and accountable oversight of policing, in cooperation with the provinces. Urge provincial and municipal bodies to implement those standards to ensure fairness and accountability in policing across the country.

● Develop a national standard for police use-of-force, and work with other jurisdictions to ban certain kinds of force, such as chokeholds and neck restraints.

4. Record - National database to record police use-of-force and other incidents

● Create a mandatory national database on the collection of police use of force data, disaggregated by race, ethnic background, national origin, age, and other identities to track victims of incidents of use-of-force by police and better understand the extent of systemic racism in Canadian policing.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

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Police accountability is an important way to make our communities safer. It’s past time to put in place robust and independent civilian oversight of the RCMP. We’ll launch a review of the RCMP’s budget and the RCMP Act in order to ensure accountability of the RCMP to the public. A New Democrat government will release all use-of-force incidents by the RCMP and launch a full review of these practices.

— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27

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Enhance the current Management Advisory Board to be in line with other Canadian police services to have full oversight over the RCMP.

Bring forward clear timelines for compliance with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission recommendations.

Support an external review of the RCMP’s sanctions and disciplinary regime to review the adequacy of existing sanctions and whether sanctions are being properly applied.

Prohibit RCMP against using neck restraints and prohibit the use of tear gas or rubber bullets for crowd control.

Make the new Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution fully external to the RCMP to ensure there can be no conflicts of interest while reviewing complaints.

Commit to a full external review of current deescalation training to ensure this training results in the safest possible outcomes for both officers and Canadians.

Work with the provinces, territories, and municipalities that contract RCMP services to make the service better connected to community social support workers.

— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02

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● Develop a national standard for police use-of-force, and work with other jurisdictions to ban certain kinds of force, such as chokeholds and neck restraints.

4. Record - National database to record police use-of-force and other incidents

● Create a mandatory national database on the collection of police use of force data, disaggregated by race, ethnic background, national origin, age, and other identities to track victims of incidents of use-of-force by police and better understand the extent of systemic racism in Canadian policing.

— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11

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New Democrats are committed to putting an end to police violence, and will implement a federal use-of-force standard with a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate use-of-force. We will overhaul federal police training to ensure that every officer receives robust and ongoing de-escalation, implicit-bias and cross- cultural training throughout their career. New Democrats will also increase investments in non-police interventions, such as mental health and addiction supports.

— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27

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