A private member’s bill was passed April 18 by the Senate that will provide judges with education on domestic violence and coercive control and require them to consider these factors when issuing decisions.
Known as “Keira’s Law”, Bill C-233 was named for four-year-old Keira Kagan who was found dead at the bottom of a cliff with her father, Robin Brown, in 2020. Brown had apparently taken the girl, a kindergarten student at Bialik Hebrew Day School, hiking during a winter storm.
Keira’s mother, Jennifer Kagan, has said it was an apparent murder-suicide after Keira was ordered into his care unsupervised, despite warning signs of abuse. The couple were involved in a long and bitter legal battle over Keira’s custody and safety.
The bill was tabled by Liberal MPs Anju Dhillon, Pam Damoff, and Ya’ara Saks and Senator Pierre Dalphond.
In a press conference, Kagan said Bill C-233 was a concrete step in the right direction.
“This bill signals a change in the way domestic violence will be treated by the family and criminal court system,” Kagan said.
She recalled when she went to trial to seek protection for Keira from the violence and coercive behaviour of her ex-husband.
“I was before a judge with a background in labour and employment law. He cut me off on the stand when I was talking about domestic violence and parenting and the effect on our daughter and he said domestic violence is not relevant to parenting,” she said.
She used this example to demonstrate why this bill is so important for women and children at risk of domestic violence.
“One hundred years from now, when we’re all gone, Keira Kagan will be in the House of Commons and Senate records in such a positive way that she was able to save lives,” said Damoff.
The bill also amends the Criminal Code to allow a judge to consider ordering someone charged with intimate partner violence to wear an electronic monitoring device if they think the individual may pose a safety or security risk.
This along, with the education for judges, creates what Saks calls a “comprehensive tool box” in understanding the pathology and the tragedy that comes from intimate partner violence and coercive control.
“That is why balancing the two aspects of the bill, both electronic monitoring and training on coercive control and its dangers is so important,” said Saks.
While this bill is unable to help Keira, her legacy will live on.
“She wanted to change the world. She was so fierce and spunky; she would have done great things. So, we’re going to do them for her,” her mother said,
The Ontario coroner’s office has called for an inquest into Keira’s death, but the hearing has yet to be scheduled.
