Tory motion on extreme intoxication fails

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This article was published 31/05/2022 (939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba NDP foiled a Tory backbencher’s motion that asks Ottawa to amend legislation to reject extreme intoxication as a defence for violent crime.

A private member’s resolution introduced by James Teitsma was talked out by the NDP, preventing it from being voted on.

“It is in all of our best interest to call on the federal government to introduce new legislation immediately,” Teitsma said.

On May 13, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled a section of the Criminal Code that bars the use of automatism — a state of extreme intoxication — as defence for certain acts was unconstitutional.

The court called on Parliament to consider new legislation to hold people who are extremely intoxicated accountable for violent crimes.

The Tory resolution stated rates of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other random acts of violence have increased, and Ottawa needs to enact strong measures to protect vulnerable people.

Teitsma said it was deplorable the resolution did not receive support necessary for it to be put to a vote. If it had been passed, the resolution would have become the official position of the assembly.

Among the country’s attorney generals, the Supreme Court’s decision is seen as an affront to justice that needs to be corrected, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said.

“We hope there will be an effort to amend the Criminal Code to close this gap,” Goertzen said. “What I’ve heard is universal disdain and concern about the decision.

Bernadette Smith, the NDP critic for mental health and addictions, said her party supports efforts by the federal government to address the gap in the Criminal Code.

The Tories must address the addictions crisis and violence against Indigenous women and girls, she said.