Law to prevent domestic violence on the books for 3 years, but still not in effect

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When Colette Martin’s ex-partner stabbed her 37 times, it wasn’t the first time he’d committed violence against someone he’d been in a relationship with.

But Martin, of Baie-Sainte-Anne in northeastern New Brunswick, only learned of the man’s earlier violence when she attended his trial for the violence he committed against her.

Had she known about this history, Martin said, she would have been able to make different decisions about her relationship.

Three years ago, the province passed a law to give police the legal authority to disclose a person’s history of intimate partner violence.

WATCH | ‘The more it stalls, the more people are dying,’ advocate says:

3 years later, law to prevent domestic violence hasn’t been implemented

In 2022, the New Brunswick Legislature unanimously passed a law that would give police authority to disclose when someone has a history of intimate partner violence. In 2026, the province is still working on the regulations necessary to implement it.

It’s modelled after a British statute passed in 2014, known as Clare’s Law.

But the changes have yet to go into effect — the province says it hasn’t finished the regulations needed for the law to be implemented.

Martin sees the years-long delay as a missed opportunity to save lives.

“It’s lifesaving,” she said in an interview. “And the more it stalls, the more people are dying.

“They need to roll this out, and it needs to happen as soon as possible.”

The law says that regulations would establish criteria for who can access information, what kind of information can be disclosed, and how the information would be safeguarded.

“I know it’s going to happen, it’s just, it’s taking a lot longer,” Martin said. “And as a victim and a survivor, I know that we don’t have that time.”

The province didn’t provide an interview on the subject, but said in a statement that work on the regulations continues.

Asked for a specific timeline for completion, a spokesperson said the Department of Justice and Public Safety “anticipates providing recommendations to government in the near future.”

Two women smiling — Michelle Conroy, left, and Colette Martin are pictured together at the legislature the day the law passed. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

Miramichi East MLA Michelle Conroy said she was proud to see the bill pass unanimously in the legislature in December 2022.

She calls it “Colette’s law,” as it was introduced after Martin came to MLAs with her story.

But Conroy is also frustrated by the stalled progress.

“We, as the legislature, unanimously declared intimate partner violence as an epidemic,” Conroy said in an interview. “So if we truly believe that, then these delays really aren’t acceptable.”

A stone building with a flag pole flying the New Brunswick flag. — The legislature passed a motion last summer to declare gender-based violence an epidemic. (Guy LeBlanc/Radio-Canada)

Conroy said “the groundwork has been laid” by other jurisdictions that have introduced similar laws, and she believes implementation should be less complicated as a result.

Other Canadian provinces, including Saskatchewan and Alberta, have adopted their own version of the British legislation.

Conroy said the law is meant to prevent harm but also the trauma that comes with living through intimate partner violence and seeking justice through police and court processes afterward.

“The legislature has spoken,” she said. “Now it’s time for the government to act, because lives depend on it.”

A report issued late last year found New Brunswick had the most domestic homicides of any Atlantic province over a decade.

A woman with long dark and gray hair with bangs, wearing a red shawl, shown from the shoulders up. — Myrna Dawson, who wrote a report on domestic homicide in Atlantic Canada, is calling for more urgency in implementing the law. (Submitted by Myrna Dawson)

Report author Myrna Dawson, a professor with the University of Guelph’s Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence, also noted the delay with Colette’s law.

“In those three years, how many other women have been killed, how many other children have been killed as a result of intimate partner violence-related domestic homicide?” Dawson said in an interview.

“How many women are living in these contexts, or are entering relationships … with people with histories of domestic violence?

“These are not issues that we should be sitting on.”

If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. If you’re affected by family or intimate partner violence, you can look for help through crisis lines and local support services. 