The Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, burst into tears on Thursday at the end of the study of Bill 92 aimed at creating a specialized court in matters of domestic or sexual violence.
In the solemn setting of the Salon Rouge where the proceedings were being held, Mr. Jolin-Barrette broke down at the very end of the clause-by-clause study process of the controversial bill he sponsored.
It is very rare to see a minister give in to emotion like this during this kind of parliamentary exercise. The incident will seem even more surprising to some, knowing that in the National Assembly, Minister Jolin-Barrette has gained a reputation over the years as a rather cold and insensitive person.
But that is not at all the image he gave of himself on Thursday, when he made his final remarks on Bill 92, embraced by emotion to the point of not being able to speak and having to ask the chairman of the meeting to suspend the proceedings for a few moments, the time to resume.
The minister was the last parliamentarian to speak. He said his first thoughts were with victims of sexual or domestic violence who may soon be better supported at all stages of the legal process.
Tears welled up as he recounted that Bill 92 made sense for members of Parliament who welcome people into their constituency offices calling for help, saying, “I was sexually assaulted, can you? you help us? “
He interrupted his remarks for a few seconds, before resuming and asserting that “when you receive this kind of testimony, it affects people”. Unable to hold back his tears any longer, he had to leave the Salon Rouge for a few moments.
Subsequently, the minister insisted that the justice system had to modernize its way of approaching these kinds of cases. “It must change and it will change,” he promised.
Without naming the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau, who expressed serious reservations about the bill, Mr. Jolin-Barrette reaffirmed that, contrary to what she claimed, nothing in the future law threatened judicial independence or called into question the impartiality of the court.
“This is an extremely important bill,” he said, calling on the judiciary to “change the culture”.
Bill 92 follows on from the “Rebuilding Confidence” report, produced last year by a committee of experts which looked into the issue, and which was co-chaired by the former Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec, Elizabeth Corte. The main recommendation of the committee was precisely the creation of a specialized tribunal for this type of case.
The creation of a specialized tribunal aims to offer complainants a more secure, more welcoming environment, by supporting them at all stages of the judicial process. This solution aims to counter the fact that most victims do not dare to file a complaint.
The three spokespersons for the opposition parties underlined the minister’s openness to the many amendments proposed to improve the bill and congratulated him on his work and determination, despite some moments of tension between elected officials during of the process.
Liberal spokesperson, MP Isabelle Melançon, was satisfied with the work accomplished, saying she was convinced “that we are going to make a real difference in the lives of victims”.
Bill 92 is due to pass the final vote stage in the coming weeks.