Bill S-242 would require Ottawa to build a national strategy within two years and report on progress every two years, drawing support from Liberals and Conservatives while the Bloc raises jurisdiction concerns.
The Canadian
Newsroom
October 23, 2026
3 min read
The House of Commons has debated Bill S-242, known as Georgina’s Law, at second reading, moving the proposal a step closer to requiring a federal national strategy on intimate-partner violence. The bill would oblige Ottawa to develop that strategy within two years and to report on progress every two years after that. CBC News reported on October 23 that the debate drew support from both Liberal and Conservative MPs.
The bill is named for Georgina McGrath, a Newfoundland and Labrador survivor and advocate whose campaigning helped bring the issue to Parliament. It was championed in the Senate by Senator Fabian Manning, also of Newfoundland and Labrador, before reaching the Commons. Naming legislation after an advocate is unusual, and supporters have framed it as recognition of the role survivors have played in pressing governments to act.
Intimate-partner violence has been described by police services, shelters and several provincial governments as an epidemic, and advocates have long argued that responses remain fragmented across jurisdictions. A national strategy, as envisioned in the bill, would co-ordinate federal efforts and create a reporting mechanism so Parliament and the public can measure whether commitments are being met. The two-year deadline and the biennial progress reports are the bill’s main accountability tools.
Not every party is fully on board. Bloc Québécois MPs raised concerns during the debate about federal encroachment on provincial jurisdiction, since health, social services and much of the justice system fall to the provinces. That objection is familiar in federal-provincial files, and it signals the shape of the debate to come rather than outright opposition to the bill’s goal.
Second reading is an early stage: the bill must still be studied in committee, pass third reading in the Commons and receive royal assent before it becomes law. The breadth of the support voiced this week suggests it has a realistic path, but the committee stage is where the jurisdiction questions raised by the Bloc are likely to be tested in detail. For advocates who have waited years for a co-ordinated federal response, the debate marks progress rather than a finish line.
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