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The federal government is making changes to Canada’s Criminal Code to treat killings driven by control, hate, sexual violence or exploitation as first-degree murder, Justice Minister Sean Fraser said on Tuesday.
The proposed law is called the ‘Protecting Victims Act’ and among the changes it would tackle with those updates is femicide – murder motivated by hate against women, the minister said.
“We specifically will be creating a constructive first-degree murder charge where certain factors are present when a murder takes place, including a murder that is motivated by hate, including including murder that takes place during the commission of a sexual offense, and including murder that follows a pattern of coercive and controlling behavior,” Fraser said.
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Ottawa’s new bill is also taking aim at pornographic deepfakes. The section of the Criminal Code on sharing intimate images without consent would be expanded to include deepfakes made using artificial intelligence.
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“There are new sexual offenses that have been established, including making good on the campaign commitment to criminalize the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, including specifically those created through the use of artificial intelligence,” Fraser said.
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Even threatening to distribute such deepfake images would be included under the expanded reach of this law, he added.
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Fraser said the government is also going to restore mandatory minimum punishments.
“There’s a series of sexual offenses that will see higher maximum penalties as a result of this legislation and at the same time, we will be following the guidance of the Supreme Court of Canada to restore mandatory minimum penalties in a way that is constitutionally compliant,” he said.
The bill also would outlaw engaging in a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct against an intimate partner.
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There is currently no specific Criminal Code offence prohibiting such conduct.
–With files from Canadian Press
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