Statement from the Department of Justice Canada

June 24, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Justice Canada

The Honourable David Lametti, M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, issued today the following statement about the end of the Parliamentary session.

“As this parliamentary session comes to a close, I am proud to present Justice Results 2015–2019, which highlights a number of significant achievements by the Department of Justice Canada on behalf of Canadians.

Over this session, we continued our work to transform Canada’s justice system, ensuring that it is fair, efficient, transparent, and accessible for all. We introduced major reforms to federal laws that had not seen updates in decades. These legislative changes help protect all members of our society, including our most vulnerable individuals, and they touch our lives in deeply personal ways.

We introduced reforms to help modernize the criminal justice system and reduce delays through Bill C-75. The bill proposes broad changes, such as the modernization and clarification of bail and amendments to help address the diversity of our juries. Many of the issues that Bill C-75 seeks to address have disproportionate impacts on groups that are over-represented in Canada’s criminal justice system, in particular Indigenous people and individuals from vulnerable populations.

Other achievements include major reforms to family law, including the Divorce Act, in order to ensure that family law promotes the best interests of the child and appropriately addresses family violence (Bill C-78). We corrected critical gaps in the Criminal Code related to sexual abuse, bestiality, and animal fighting (Bill C-84).

Other examples of our legislative accomplishments include:

• Strengthening legal protections for transgender and gender-diverse Canadians -- #FreetobeMe;
• Updating impaired driving laws, including drug-impaired driving provisions;
• Legalizing and strictly regulating cannabis in the interest of public health and safety;
• Supporting informed end-of-life decision making with Medical Assistance in Dying;
• Reviewing the Criminal Justice System, which included extensive consultations with Canadians and efforts to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people and vulnerable populations in the justice system.

I know that Canadians care about their justice system. Canadians played a key role in shaping some of this legislation and we are grateful for your contributions.   I encourage you to visit our new Results page and learn more about what we’ve achieved by working alongside Canadians.”

Associated Links

• Government of Canada announces Criminal Code reforms to modernize the criminal justice system and reduce delays
• New measures to strengthen family justice receive Royal Assent
• Measures to strengthen legal protections for children, vulnerable individuals, and animals pass Parliament and are now in place

For more information, media may contact:

Media Relations
Department of Justice Canada
613-957-4207
media@justice.gc.ca