Tories call on all parties to back tougher sentences for intimate partner violence

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on other parties to support legislation he says would combat intimate partner violence.

Poilievre's call came after Statistics Canada released a report that says the number of reports of intimate partner violence increased by 14 per cent between 2018 and 2024.

The report also notes women and girls remain overrepresented in those statistics; the number of women suffering intimate partner violence in 2024 was 3.5 times higher than the number of men.

Poilievre blames the rise in cases on what he calls the federal Liberals' lax approach to criminal justice and is calling for stricter penalties.

Bill C-225, introduced by Conservative MP Frank Caputo, would automatically make the killing of an intimate partner an act of first degree mu