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w w w .insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 9, 2 0 1 7 | 1 6 Changes to make it easier for victims to seek justice continued from p.1 action to provide more protection for sexual assault victims. Earlier this week, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody WilsonRaybould introduced Bill C -51, which pro poses to remove 20 criminal offences, like those related to duelling and witchcraft, con sidered outdated or invalidated by court deci sions. The proposed legislation is part of the Ca nadian government' s plan to update the Crim inal Code and other laws to reflect the latest legal developments in common law, which is shaped on a case-by-case basis by judges. At the heart of the legislation is better pro tection for victims of sexual assault, part of the government' s long-term plan to modern ize the criminal justice system. Included protection measures are for the law to explicitly state that a sex assault com plainant cannot consent to sex while uncon scious and that a person' s sexual text messag es and other communications are irrelevant to the question of consent. Damoff, who is vice-chair of the Standing Committee for the Status of Women, told the O akville B eaver Wednesday, June 7, the bill will clarify there is no consent unless it' s voluntarily and clear, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. The Standing Committee for the Status of Women recently tabled a report on violence against young women and girls, part of which focuses on the challenges sexual assault sur vivors face when reporting to police. "I'm so gratified that our work is being reflected in legislation. It shows how com mitted our government is to really moving forward on protection for sexual assault vic tims," said Damoff. "This is just one more on the list of things we can do that will update our sexual assault laws, making it easier for victims to come for ward." If passed, texts, emails or any other com munications or private records, such as a therapist' s records, wouldn't be admissible in a rape trial unless the accused can prove they are vital to a fair trial and key to disproving the allegations. "So few women come forward because they're concerned whether they will be be lieved when they do. This is something that hopefully will remove the stigma and reduce barriers for, predominantly women, victims of sexual assault," said Damoff. In addition, complainants would clearly have a right to their own legal counsel in the legal proceedings where such "rape shield" questions are decided, stated a government release. Courts would inform complainants of their right and be required to hear their objections U So few women come forward because they're concerned whether they will be believed when they do. This is something that, hopefully, will remove the stigma and reduce barriers for, predominantly women, victims of sexual assault. MP Pam Damoff Oakville North-Burlington to having their private records or emails or photos brought into court proceedings. Damoff noted the bill will be debated in the House of Commons sometime next week, and the Oakville North-Burlington MP said she plans to speak to it. It will go through the legislative process, in cluding to committee, possibly justice, before coming back to the House for a Third Read ing, Damoff explained. While she doesn't expect a vote on it before Parliament adjourns for the summer, Damoff said, "Hopefully in the fall it will go through the process and it will become law." Damoff said the tracking of "unfounded cases" of sexual assault vary in municipalities across Canada, so she wants to know how Halton keeps a tally. She was "pleased" that Statistics Canada would begin to re-track the cases. "If Statistics Canada is doing it across the country, there is some clarity across the coun try, so we know we're comparing apples to apples," said Damoff. The former Oakville Town councillor also wants to find out how the federal government can support Halton police' s efforts to ensure cases are tracked the same way locally, as across Canada, and to ensure cases are "ad vancing in the proper way," she said. "This is one further step we're taking and I'm certainly going to keep working on this is sue in Ottawa. I'm really pleased to see a lot of the recommendations that we've been mak ing are being instituted by the government. It' s a really positive step," said Damoff. Bill C-51 a `major step' forward: Oakville MP Oakville MP John Oliver weighed in on Bill C -51, as well, with a statement of his own re leased Wednesday, June 7. He said the proposed legislation represents a "major step in support of the government' s commitment to openness and transparency and will help Canadians understand the po tential effects of new laws on their Charter rights." The federal government also has an "un wavering commitment to ensuring victims in sexual assault matters are treated with dig nity and respect, including bringing increased protection for women around sexual assault when unconscious." "Repealing provisions that are very similar to those found unconstitutional by the courts will help to avoid expensive, time consuming litigation as well as prevent court delays and backlogs including several obsolete and/or re dundant offences," said Oliver. OAKVILLE JU /O r ,v -- 1 w* 25 Y EAR S IN O A K V ILLE Meeting with Halton Police Services Board Meanwhile over the summer, Damoff will be meeting with Julie Moscato, police services board executive director, on Thursday, July 6 to discuss the issue of police handling of sex ual assault cases. It will be part of the board' s ongoing review of the matter. An update on progress is expected at the board June 15. During the meeting, she hopes to get clari fication from Halton police on its current pro cedures for handling sexual assault cases. M Help Us ® reaK ]# W orld Retold! W EO FFER For coupons s` w * T H EO PT IM U M specialsvisit INV E H IC L E 1 1490 U N IT R U ST C O N T R O L! J | W lS h .......... _ ,, 905.827.7878 V *v ^ T O w n K y T n i # 5 SPEERS R O A D , O A K V ILLE Interlocking & Concrete Specialists SO O NTO RN BAHN T H A I Soontorn Bahn Thai is the premium thai restaurant in downtown Oakville specializing in Royal Thai cuisine w ith fresh ingredient from Thailand. 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