UCP proposes extra protections for Alberta women
Posted March 7, 2019 4:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — If elected this spring, the United Conservative Party is pledging more protections for women to prevent domestic violence.
Leader Jason Kenney says the UCP would adopt Clare’s Law, which allows women to ask police if a potential partner has a history of domestic violence.
The law originated in the United Kingdom, where it was adopted in 2009 after the death of Clare Wood. Wood was killed by her boyfriend, who concealed from her a prior six-year prison sentence for holding a woman captive at knifepoint.
“Had she known about her partner’s violent past, her murder could have been prevented. It was utterly tragic. Our goal is to prevent similar tragedies here,” said Kenney.
Saskatchewan became the first Canadian province to put the law in place last year, as that province topped the list with the highest rate of intimate partner violence in the country.
Alberta is not too far behind, in third place, with an average of a dozen women killed every year in domestic disputes around the province.
There have been some privacy concerns in the past iterations of that law, but Kenney said the UCP would also help address that.
“Our legislation would allow the person at risk and family members to apply for this information, although only the at-risk woman would receive it.”
But in response, the NDP says this may be a case of crocodile tears from the official opposition.
“Sexual and domestic violence I think have been front of mind for our government,” said Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley from inside the McDougall Centre in Calgary. “It’s nice to see that Mr Kenney and the UCP are willing to have these conversations. I hope that they are willing to have these conversations every day and that they’re willing to invest in these issues.”
Ganley points to past initiatives to protect women that the UCP voted down in the legislature — including money for survivors of sexual violence and funding for women’s shelters.
She adds the NDP has looked into this law, and while there are no plans in place right now to put it in place, they are committed to improving safety for women.
“I think it’s an important step. I think there are a number of other important steps around this issue that need to be taken, and a lot of them involve making sure that we’re willing to invest the funding to make sure that women can be safe,” Ganley added.
Thursday’s announcement from the UCP also included plans to invest $2 million to expand the use of specialised monitoring technology, improving medical and forensic evidence gathering in rural communities, and implementing a specific Repeat Offender Policy with provincial and federal components.
