The House of Commons justice committee is calling on the government to change the Criminal Code to allow victims of sexual assault to opt out of publication bans.
Such bans are intended to protect victims by prohibiting the publication of information that could identify them publicly in relation to their case.
In October, MPs heard from Morrell Andrews, a sexual assault victim turned advocate. She told the committee that a publication ban was placed on her name without her consent and she later had to fight to remove it — a process she called "humiliating." The report also called for a number of updates to the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, passed by Stephen Harper's Conservative government in early 2015. The committee called on the government to establish a right for victims to access support programs and to ensure necessary information about the criminal justice system is provided to victims automatically, rather than upon their request.
A spokesperson for Lametti's office told CBC News that the government will respond to the committee's report "in due course."NDP MP Laurel Collins, who is sponsoring a petition in the House of Commons calling for similar changes to the law, said it's "encouraging" to see support for those changes gather momentum.
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