Remove extreme intoxication defence
Petitioners ask the government to repeal 2022 Criminal Code changes on extreme intoxication and restore liability for violent offences against First Nations. The government responds that Parliament re‑enacted section 33.1 in 2022.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would remove the extreme‑intoxication defence so those who commit violent harms against First Nations can be held criminally accountable, aligning justice with victims’ expectations.
- It targets vulnerabilities in rural First Nations communities where longer police response times can increase risk of violent crime.
- It responds to rising alcohol and drug harms cited in the petition by limiting a defence that could let perpetrators avoid liability.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- The Supreme Court struck down a prior blanket bar; repealing the current amendments could recreate a legal gap allowing some intoxicated defendants to avoid conviction.
- Parliament’s 2022 re‑enactment is presented as a Charter‑compliant measure to allow liability for criminally negligent consumption; repeal may conflict with constitutional requirements and court rulings.
- Addressing policing, addiction treatment and victim services might reduce violence without reopening complex legal and evidentiary issues tied to intoxication defences.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada WHEREAS: Amendments were made to the Criminal Code on June 23, 2022, allowing for extreme intoxication to act as a defense for violent crimes like assault and sexual assault where a "reasonable person would not have foreseen the risk of a violent loss of control"; The National Enquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found that rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls to be alarmingly higher than any other demographic in Canada; First Nation communities are often in rural areas under-served by law enforcement creating longer response times and greater potential for violent acts of crime; and Alcoholism and substance abuse is a rapidly growing issue leaving First Nations more vulnerable to acts of violence. According to the First Nation Health Authority, First Nations make up only 3.3% of British Columbia's population but a staggering 15% of toxic drug deaths. THEREFORE: We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Federal Government, to remove their amendments to the Criminal Code related to extreme intoxication and uphold their commitment to protecting First Nations safety and right to a justice system that honours victims by holding offenders responsible for violent crime.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY PATRICIA LATTANZIO In R v Brown (2022), the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) struck down the previous version of section 33.1 of the Criminal Code, which prevented an accused person from relying on extreme intoxication as a defence for violent crimes like assault, sexual assault, and manslaughter. The SCC held that section 33.1 violated sections 7 (the right not to be deprived of life, liberty and security of the person except in accordance with a principle of fundamental justice) and 11(d) (the presumption of innocence) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and declared it to be unconstitutional because individuals could be convicted of a crime of violence in circumstances where they did not meet the minimum requirements for criminal liability. The Brown decision created a gap in the law that would have allowed accused persons charged with violent crimes, such as assault or sexual assault, to escape liability in cases where they negligently became extremely intoxicated, lost control and harmed another person. Parliament re-enacted a new section 33.1 in 2022 in response to the Brown decision. As a result, section 33.1 now provides a means to hold individuals criminally responsible for their actions in cases where they voluntarily consumed intoxicants in a criminally negligent manner, lost control of their actions and harmed others. Importantly, these changes did not alter the basic legal principle that being drunk or high is never a defence to crimes like assault or sexual assault. More information on these changes can be found here: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/trans/bm-mb/other-autre/c28/index.html The re-enactment of section 33.1 promotes public safety, particularly for those who are at greatest risk of violence, including women and children.