A Bill being touted as the legacy of four-year-old Keira Kagan has just passed in the Senate.
On Tuesday, April 18th, Private Member’s Bill C-233, which includes what is known informally as “Keira’s Law” passed in the Senate last night and will be sent to the Governor General to receive Royal Assent and become enshrined in Canadian law. It is expected to raise the level of education on domestic violence for federally appointed judges in Canada and will officially introduce electronic monitoring as another release condition when the safety and security of a person, including an intimate partner, could be at risk.
Keira’s Law, named after Dr. Jennifer Kagan’s daughter and Philip Viater’s stepdaughter Keira Kagan, establishes and enhances educational seminars for judges on matters related to intimate partner violence and coercive control. It comes after the federal government amended the Divorce Act in 2019, which broadened the definition of family violence.
In 2020, four-year-old Keira was killed in an apparent murder-suicide by her father. She was killed after being ordered into his care unsupervised, despite many red flags and warning signs of her father’s escalating abusive and controlling behaviour. Bill C-233 will be Keira’s legacy.
“Keira Kagan said she wanted to change the world and she will,” says Dr. Kagan. “This important piece of legislation is a major step forward for victims of intimate partner violence and children. By providing education to judges on intimate partner violence and coercive control, we strive to ensure that judges make decisions with child safety at the forefront. Judges must understand what intimate partner violence looks like in the modern world, and how this impacts parenting. Our hope is that there will be a cultural shift whereby judges render decisions that keep victims safe from harm. We hope educating judges will inspire greater public confidence that they are able and willing to protect vulnerable members of society. No other child or family should go through what Keira and our family has experienced. We have advocated for Keira’s Law in her honour and in honour of all other victims of violence.”
MP Dhillon first introduced Bill C-233 on the second anniversary of Keira’s death. Bill C-233 allows newly appointed federal judges to receive education on domestic violence and coercive control and ensures that this education is made available for existing judges.
Bill C-233 also introduces into the Criminal Code electronic monitoring control, in some cases at the judicial interim release phase, which is under section 515 of the Criminal Code. This mechanism ensures to a greater extent the safety and security of intimate partner complainants and their children.
View the press conference here.
