Hon. Kim Pate: Would Senator Boisvenu take a question?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator Pate, will you answer a question?

Senator Pate: Yes.

Senator Pate: My understanding is that they are not talking about mandatory treatment. They are talking about offering treatment as an alternative to the mechanisms that are currently used.

In my experience working with men convicted of sex offences, almost inevitably they will choose those options when they are available. The challenge is they are rarely available. We tend to go to a more so-called “law and order” response.

With respect, I don’t think we need a revolution. But I do think we need to have an honest assessment of what is being offered with this bill, and to identify that there are significant gaps when we say we are going to use electronic monitoring, and hope that will stop this.

In my discussions with women’s groups about your bill and about this approach, it’s very clear that some are looking at it as one of the only options being offered, and I agree that is an indictment of all of us if that’s all that is being offered to them. I am not in any way questioning your support or your desire to see an end to violence against women. I think, though, we need to be honest about how best we can achieve that. It is clear that one of the downsides of this bill is it will look as though something is being done and it may stop one or two men, but is unlikely to stop many, if any.

[Translation]

Senator Pate: I’m not sure there was a question, but I’m happy to add that I think it’s true. The challenge is, as you have already experienced in talking to those women, when the only response you provide is a criminal law response, women who have had a history of not having any kind of avenues to get support often will leap to that and cling to that, when in fact as you have already experienced, when you go and speak to them, that’s the last thing they want. They want a whole host of other supports and services to prevent them from ending up before the courts in the first place.

My concern is offering electronic monitoring as though it will solve the problem creates that false sense of security, and creates a sense that it actually will be effective when, as I hoped to lay out, in fact, there is ample evidence that is not true. If at the committee we take the opportunity to say, what should we be doing instead of this, I think that would be a fabulous opportunity, so thank you very much.

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