Canadian senator hopes for bill’s fast passage to give jurors mental health support
Global News
The 'jury secrecy' law prevents jurors from discussing any part of deliberations with anyone, making it difficult for them to access mental health support.
Quebec Sen. Pierre-Hughes Boisvenu is hoping a bill he tabled in the Senate will help jurors access mental health support and that this time it will become law before another election.
Bill S-206 would amend Section 649 of the Criminal Code to allow jurors to discuss aspects of jury deliberations following the trial with a licensed health-care professional. Currently, talking to anyone about any information relating to such jury discussions is illegal under what is often referred to as the “jury secrecy” law.
“When we ask citizens to be (on) a jury, we don’t ask them to be a victim,” Boisvenu said during a press conference Thursday.
He said it was the fourth time the bill had been introduced and he and Sen. Lucie Moncion had made it their “mission” to get the bill passed.
In October 2018, Conservative MP Michael Cooper — who joined Boisvenu Wednesday — introduced his own private member’s bill, C-417, that also would have changed the Criminal Code to help jurors get support. That bill passed through the House of Commons with bipartisan support, but it stalled in the Senate in April 2019. When the 43rd general election was called later that year, the bill died on the order paper, preventing it from becoming law.
Two months after that election, Boisvenu introduced his own bill, S-207. At the time, Cooper told Global News he had reached out to the senator to bring the bill to the chamber. He said the upper house did not have “a lot on its plate” and it would hopefully make it back to the House of Commons quickly.
The bill did pass its first reading in the chamber, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was not able to reach the House before the 2021 federal election.
Cooper said Thursday he was confident the bill would pass this time.
It's been proposed if the score remains even after overtime, it would be decided by alternating plays from the opposition's three-yard line until one scores and the other doesn't.
François Legault made the announcement at the national assembly of Quebec on Wednesday as October’s provincial election approaches.
Crombie announced she would resign back in September after a weak show of support for the leader at the Ontario Liberal convention on the back of a third-place election finish.
The O'Neills are at the centre of a Charter of Rights challenge, now before the B.C. Supreme Court, that seeks to end the practice of so-called "forced transfers."
The former Manwin Hotel, which has been vacant for about a year, is the scene of a major fire, though crews say the cause is not yet known.
A major issue this week will be China's heavy tariffs on pork, canola and seafood, which were imposed after Ottawa ordered tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.
Despite data saying otherwise, Kelowna, B.C. business owners say break and enters, thefts and property crime are through the roof.
Kelowna is flooded with empty condo and rental units, with the city's vacancy rate now the highest in all of Canada at more than six per cent.
Producers in Saskatchewan say they are feeling optimistic ahead of Premier Scott Moe joining Prime Minister Mark Carney on his trip to China this week.
The Daily Bread Food Bank is alleging a misuse of funds at Feed Scarborough and cutting the agency from its network at the end of January.
Life expectancy at birth in Canada increased for the second consecutive year in 2024, with women living longer on average than men, Statistics Canada said.
SiRT is investigating a shooting involving members of the RCMP that resulted in the death of a man from Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia on Tuesday morning.
Trump made the comments as he toured a Ford Motor Co. factory in Dearborn, Michigan, ahead of a speech on the economy he was scheduled to deliver in Detroit.