Illustration by Ann Kiernan

My ears perked up when Pierre Poilievre announced his plan to address the epidemic of intimate partner violence (IPV). According to the statement he made in Trois-Rivières, Québec, on April 4, he wants to “keep abusers off the street and behind bars to protect the most vulnerable Canadians.”

Six days later, Liberal leader Mark Carney said his party would “crack down on sexual violence and intimate partner violence,” but offered few specifics. So far, we’ve heard nothing from the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh.

Poilievre’s announcement immediately reminded me of the ways the criminal justice system has failed survivors of IPV over the last 40 years.

He says a Conservative government will create a new offence specific to the assault of an intimate partner that would carry with it tougher sentences, impose “the strictest” bail conditions for anyone accused of IPV, and treat all murders of an intimate partner or children in the family as first-degree murder.

Survivors and family members of victims who criticize the current criminal justice system for not listening to the voices of survivors and for failing to keep them safe are right. We need to........

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