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All three political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador are standing together to support a federal intimate partner violence bill put forward by a senator and a survivor from the province.
Bill S-242, otherwise known as Georgina’s Law — named for survivor and advocate Georgina McGrath and championed by Sen. Fabian Manning — passed a third reading in the senate on Tuesday.
It’s now heading to the House of Commons, where it could become law.
“Regardless of political affiliation, we must work collectively to prevent intimate partner violence and strengthen our response to it,” reads the letter from the leaders of the province’s PCs, Liberals and NDP. “This is precisely what Bill S-242 seeks to achieve.”
If the bill becomes law, it would require the federal government to develop a national strategy on intimate partner violence within two years.
It passed the Senate in 2024, but delays caused by a federal election resulted in the bill — nine years in the making — being sent back to the Senate again.
McGrath has been outspoken about her experiences with intimate partner violence, becoming a leading advocate in Newfoundland and Labrador. She told the Senate she faced constant physical, mental and emotional abuse for years — including a beating in 2014 that nearly took her life.
She found an ally in Manning in 2017, after she approached him to see if there was an opportunity to present a federal law to address the nationwide problem.
Manning, whose career has mostly focused on the fishery, promised McGrath he would see it through.
The CBC’s Ariana Kelland reports on the efforts of a Newfoundland and Labrador woman who has turned her experience with intimate partner violence into potentially shaping a new Canadian law.
Legislators in Newfoundland and Labrador say they hope the bill becomes law, to help strengthen the tools available to combat the crisis of intimate partner violence.
“By standing together in support of Bill S-242, we are united in our shared commitment to stronger collaboration, greater transparency, and improved support for survivors,” wrote Women and Gender Equality Minister Lela Evans in a statement. “We are thankful for the unwavering advocacy of Sen. Fabian Manning and Georgina McGrath.”
The provincial government is also pledging to take action independent of the bill, promising things like expanding family justice services to ensure better legal representation for survivors, as well as establishing new legislative tools to provide survivors with more pathways to seek justice within the family law system.
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