Quebec first province to introduce domestic violence tracking bracelets

Quebec will soon become the first province in Canada to bring in electronic tracking bracelets for domestic violence perpetrators.

Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault tabled Bill 24 in the national assembly Wednesday. She said this new program will save lives.

In 2021, at least 17 women were killed by intimate partners in Quebec.

The province is now trying to prevent more femicides by introducing electronic monitoring bracelets for past offenders. Victims carry a small device. An alert is sent to police if the offender comes near them.

Only six countries in the world are using this technology, including Spain, which introduced the bracelets in 2009.

“Since women, victims have been wearing (these) bracelets, none of them have been killed. So this, only this, is such a good thing, that it is worth trying here in Quebec,” said Guilbault.

The bracelets won’t be used automatically. It will be up for a judge to decide and they will also need the consent of the victim.

“This is a tool that is very interesting, very efficient, but very intrusive. You are geo-located all the time, so the women, or the men, the victims, have to be comfortable,” Guilbault explained.

Opposition parties are happy to see the bill tabled. This initiative is just one of 190 recommendations from a report compiled by women MNAs from all parties. In the fall, the national assembly also passed a bill to create specialized courts for sexual assault cases.

“The elected members of the national assembly reacted in the best way possible, you know, following the #metoo movement, and also all those femicides, because we decided to work all together,” said Parti Québécois MNA Véronique Hivon.