National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) Statement on Speech from the Throne

National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) Statement on 

Speech from the Throne  

Commitments to implement new measures addressing intimate partner gun violence   

Anishinaabe Territory/OTTAWA, May 28th, 2025: The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) welcomed commitments in the Speech from the Throne to implement measures that will see the revocation of gun licences for those convicted of intimate partner violence and those subject to protection orders.  

Now, it is critical for the new Minister of Public Safety, the Hon. Gary Anandasangaree, to ensure the new regulations reflect the scope of former Bill C-21, as approved by Members of Parliament and Senators during the legislative process. These measures are essential for protecting women and children and preventing domestic gun violence. 

Specifically, regulations proposed in March must be reviewed to avoid unduly narrowing the scope of former Bill C-21: 

1) Prohibiting gun ownership to those subject to a protection order related to domestic violence  

Former Bill C-21 included a ground-breaking measure that had been sought by women’s groups for years: the automatic prohibition to own guns for those subject to a protection order related to domestic violence or stalking. However, recently tabled enabling regulations exclude orders that are not civil in nature, such as peace bonds made under section 810 of the Criminal Code. This exemption is incompatible with the legislative intent as well as the letter of the law. The exclusion should be immediately removed.  

2) Rendering those convicted of domestic violence ineligible to own guns 

Former Bill C-21 introduced the notion of ineligibility to own guns for individuals convicted of domestic violence. The legislative provision is clear: it’s not limited in any way and applies regardless of the date of conviction. However, official departmental documents and communications suggest officials have arbitrarily decided to exclude all past convictions (prior to April 4, 2025) from eligibility assessments. This interpretation goes against the letter of the law, in addition to contradicting the Chief Firearms Officer’s new obligation (section 70.1) to suspend a licence whenever they have “reasonable grounds to suspect” that someone “may have engaged” in domestic violence. This faulty interpretation of the law should be immediately fixed.  

The government’s prompt action now to bring into force the domestic violence provisions is critically necessary to support the new law. These measures should complement the government’s completion of the buyback program for military-style weapons used in mass shootings like the École Polytechnique femicides as well as the introduction of new regulations to ban magazines that can be modified to hold an illegal number of rounds. The alarming issue of femicides and familicides in Canada underscores the urgent need for these protections. 

NAWL looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with the government, most especially WAGE Minister Valdez, Justice Minister Fraser, Jobs and Families Minister Hajdu, Health Minister Michel and Public Safety Minister Anandasangaree, to protect women’s rights and advance systemic change toward substantive gender equality. In the coming months, issues NAWL will be advocating for to protect women’s rights include addressing gender-discrimination in the Employment Insurance program and family law reform to stop accusations of parental alienation in family court, as well as implementation of new gun control laws. 

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For more information, contact: Thaïs Laborde, Acting Executive Director, NAWL | thais.laborde@nawl.ca   

About NAWL: The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) is dedicated to advancing substantive equality for all women in Canada through law reform, particularly at the federal level. Our feminist law reform advocacy work has contributed to significant milestones for women’s rights and impacted numerous laws and policies across the country. Learn more at nawl.ca. 

With respect to gun control, NAWL has played a leadership role in advocacy on behalf of women’s organizations throughout the country, including leading the #Women4GunControl Coalition and engaging in advocacy supported by more than 50 feminist organizations from all regions in Canada. Most of NAWL’s proposed amendments to Bill C-21, regarding measures addressing domestic gun violence, received multi-party and at times unanimous support from Members of Parliament studying the legislation at Committee stage.