OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser tabled a new crime bill on Tuesday, seeking to stiffen punishments for offences committed against children and women, while also proposing to restore mandatory minimum sentences for a slew of offences.

The 167-page bill includes proposals to criminalize a pattern of behaviour seen in abusive relationships known as “coercive control,” and also declare that when a woman is murdered in the context of a controlling intimate partner relationship, which could include sexual violence and hate, that homicide be regarded as first-degree murder.

The change also includes referring to these murders as “femicide,” which was a promise that Prime Minister Mark Carney made during the spring election campaign.

The bill also fulfills his campaign commitment

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