Senator Batters: I have a brief follow-up because at one point, Senator Boisvenu, your answer was translated as applying to people who had a pardon. It is not a pardon that we’re dealing with here, right? It is a discharge where someone has been found guilty but received a discharge from the judge as their sanction.

[Translation]

Senator Boisvenu: Yes, it is the same wording, and I will add an explanation, because it’s a rather complex subject. It’s important to understand that a man — because in 90% of cases, it’s men who abuse women — who has received a pardon and then goes on to assault another spouse, when he appears before a judge, if this section doesn’t exist, the onus will be on the Crown to prove that this is a violent repeat offender who shouldn’t be released.

If we take away that privilege, any repeat offender who is brought to justice will be treated equally. Whether an offender has been pardoned or not, if he assaults another intimate partner, the onus will not be on the Crown but on the accused to prove that they aren’t violent.

What this says is that the offender had a privilege, but if he has breached his obligations, he is treated the same as a violent man who appears before the court after having reoffended.

[English]