Senator Boisvenu, known as “the voice of victims of crime,” retires
Even though he is leaving the Senate, Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu will remain a tireless advocate for the rights of victims of crime.
Motivated by the kidnapping and murder of his daughter Julie in 2002 and the loss of his daughter Isabelle in a car accident three years later, the senator has been fighting for the rights of victims and their families for more than 20 years.
Before his retirement from the Senate on February 12, 2024, the Senator spoke with SenCAPlus about the highlights of his distinguished career and how he keeps the spirit of Julie and Isabelle at the heart of all his work.
You were appointed to the Senate in 2010 on the advice of then prime minister Stephen Harper. How did you feel when you received that call from the prime minister?
I met Mr. Harper for the first time in 2005 in Sherbrooke, when he was leader of the official opposition, and I was chair of the Murdered or Missing Persons’ Families’ Association (MMPFA) (in French only). I spent 20 minutes with him alone in his vehicle and I presented 12 recommendations supporting the rights of victims of crime.
When Mr. Harper called me in January 2010, he said, “I would like you to join my team in the Senate to be the voice of victims within my government.” I was a bit ambivalent about accepting his invitation because, between 2004 and 2010, I had worked mainly at the Quebec level to advance services for victims and victims’ families.
But to be called to the Senate, it was like Mr. Harper was giving me a very big mandate. Above all, it was a unique opportunity to be able to influence the 12 recommendations I had given him.
It was also a surprise, but I told myself that this was where my daughters wanted me to be to take my mission to the next level. It has been an immense privilege to have sat in the Upper Chamber for 14 years and to have worked on behalf of victims of crime. My wish for those victims is that their cause remains at the heart of the work of the senators who have a responsibility to represent the voice of the country’s most vulnerable people.
During your 14 years in the Senate, you sponsored multiple bills on victims’ rights. Which bills stand out to you?
From 2010 to 2015, I helped introduce more than 42 bills, more than three quarters of which passed. Of course, the majority were adopted under a Conservative government.
The most important is undoubtedly the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which I worked on in close co-operation with the Prime Minister’s Office.
Then, even in opposition, I got Bill S-205 on domestic violence passed in the Senate, and . I’m proud of that because the bill was written by female victims, many of them survivors of attempted murder in a domestic violence context. This Senate public bill was subject to the most consultation of any in the institution’s history. Over the course of three years, I consulted with ministers, police officers, therapists, Indigenous people, women, shelters for abused women and the parties in the House of Commons.
You currently have five bills before the Senate, including your proposed “Noah’s Law,” which would require a sex offender to notify the authorities before changing their address. Who was Noah, and how could this law have benefited him?
Noah was a baby, just 16 months old, who was murdered after his 24-year-old mother was raped and killed by a repeat offender. This criminal, who was not under police surveillance, lived in the same building as this young mother, her baby and her partner. The family had only been living there for 10 days.
I met with the families of these victims in Alberta, and we also met twice in Ottawa with my House of Commons colleague, MP Gerald Soroka.
If this law had been in place before these sad events, the mother and her baby might still be alive today. This bill, once passed, will put repeat sexual predators who are released under more oversight.
As you approach retirement, how do you plan to continue advocating for victims?
I wish to restore what the Liberal government undid in terms of justice and public safety. The Liberal government has repealed roughly half the laws the Conservative government passed at the request of victims between 2011 and 2015. Therefore, my first task will be to stay close to the Conservative government, if one is elected, to rebuild victims’ confidence in the justice system, which has been severely degraded since 2015.
Other than that, my door is open. I’ve been asked to return to the MMPFA. I’m also thinking of working in the media to continue to raise awareness of victims’ rights among the public and in the political world, and to continue ensuring that the voices of victims of crime are heard.
You have served on a number of Senate committees, but none as consistently as the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs. What committee work are you most proud of, and why?
I’m proud of the years from 2011 to 2015 when all MMPFA’s recommendations were implemented under Mr. Harper’s leadership.
I was fortunate to work with some outstanding senators on the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs who meant a lot to me. I’m thinking of senators Bob Runciman, George Baker, Serge Joyal, Jean-Claude Rivest and Joan Fraser. I think I almost got a law degree with these seasoned senators, who taught me a lot.
The legal affairs committee study that led to the Delaying Justice Is Denying Justice report stands out the most for me. Court delays are often caused by the criminal or the defence for a variety of reasons, such as the criminal changing lawyers.
One bill that I thought was important at the legal affairs committee was Bill C-7, on medical assistance in dying. At the time, a friend who requested medical assistance in dying because of a serious illness asked me to accompany him in his final moments, along with other mutual friends. His choice to die with dignity really made me aware of what people suffering from degenerative diseases go through, and what their families endure.
The defence committee has always been of interest to me, because I have also been a member of the Canadian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly for the past eight years. This work has been my second love in the Senate. Rubbing shoulders with parliamentarians from all 30 member countries has been such an enriching experience, politically and militarily.
I also had the great pleasure of taking part in the Arctic security study. It allowed me to go to eight communities in the Arctic for about 10 days to meet with residents, politicians, the military, police and the Rangers. I discovered a whole new world.
Every year, on June 23, the anniversary of your daughter Julie’s death, you write her a letter. What message do you have for her as you prepare to retire from the Senate?
Yes, I write her a letter every year — I haven’t missed one — because she’s the one who gave me this mission. She gave her life so that her father could take on violence against women. It has always been very emotional for me, because on a number of occasions I have read these letters in the Senate. I don’t want senators to forget.
I think I’m going to ask her, as I often do when I think of her, where she wants me to go to give meaning to her death and my struggle. I trust her, just as I trust Isabelle. Together, they’ll have no trouble choosing the best way of advocating for victims’ rights.
What are your retirement plans?
My immediate plan this year is to write the story of my 14 years in the Senate. This new book will be a sequel to my first book, Survivre à l’innommable et reprendre le pouvoir sur sa vie, written in 2007.
I’m convinced that I don’t have to make plans or find projects; life will take care of it, and I trust it.
One other thing is certain: this mission to further the rights of victims and their families and condemn violence against women is my life’s purpose.
You worked in Centre Block before it closed for rehabilitation in 2019. Do you have any fond memories of your time in that building?
Yes, I have a piece of the red carpet that covered the Senate floor! All kidding aside, I have fond memories of how easy it was to get from our offices to the Senate. We saw our staff more often. Committee members met a lot more often before meetings. There was an esprit de corps and a team culture. Even Liberal and Conservative senators spent time with each other. Those were truly great years. The new location of the Senate and its multiple groups have broken that sense of collegiality in a significant way.
Learn more about Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu in this article on SenCAPlus.
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Senator Boisvenu, known as “the voice of victims of crime,” retires
Even though he is leaving the Senate, Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu will remain a tireless advocate for the rights of victims of crime.
Motivated by the kidnapping and murder of his daughter Julie in 2002 and the loss of his daughter Isabelle in a car accident three years later, the senator has been fighting for the rights of victims and their families for more than 20 years.
Before his retirement from the Senate on February 12, 2024, the Senator spoke with SenCAPlus about the highlights of his distinguished career and how he keeps the spirit of Julie and Isabelle at the heart of all his work.
You were appointed to the Senate in 2010 on the advice of then prime minister Stephen Harper. How did you feel when you received that call from the prime minister?
I met Mr. Harper for the first time in 2005 in Sherbrooke, when he was leader of the official opposition, and I was chair of the Murdered or Missing Persons’ Families’ Association (MMPFA) (in French only). I spent 20 minutes with him alone in his vehicle and I presented 12 recommendations supporting the rights of victims of crime.
When Mr. Harper called me in January 2010, he said, “I would like you to join my team in the Senate to be the voice of victims within my government.” I was a bit ambivalent about accepting his invitation because, between 2004 and 2010, I had worked mainly at the Quebec level to advance services for victims and victims’ families.
But to be called to the Senate, it was like Mr. Harper was giving me a very big mandate. Above all, it was a unique opportunity to be able to influence the 12 recommendations I had given him.
It was also a surprise, but I told myself that this was where my daughters wanted me to be to take my mission to the next level. It has been an immense privilege to have sat in the Upper Chamber for 14 years and to have worked on behalf of victims of crime. My wish for those victims is that their cause remains at the heart of the work of the senators who have a responsibility to represent the voice of the country’s most vulnerable people.
During your 14 years in the Senate, you sponsored multiple bills on victims’ rights. Which bills stand out to you?
From 2010 to 2015, I helped introduce more than 42 bills, more than three quarters of which passed. Of course, the majority were adopted under a Conservative government.
The most important is undoubtedly the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which I worked on in close co-operation with the Prime Minister’s Office.
Then, even in opposition, I got Bill S-205 on domestic violence passed in the Senate, and . I’m proud of that because the bill was written by female victims, many of them survivors of attempted murder in a domestic violence context. This Senate public bill was subject to the most consultation of any in the institution’s history. Over the course of three years, I consulted with ministers, police officers, therapists, Indigenous people, women, shelters for abused women and the parties in the House of Commons.
You currently have five bills before the Senate, including your proposed “Noah’s Law,” which would require a sex offender to notify the authorities before changing their address. Who was Noah, and how could this law have benefited him?
Noah was a baby, just 16 months old, who was murdered after his 24-year-old mother was raped and killed by a repeat offender. This criminal, who was not under police surveillance, lived in the same building as this young mother, her baby and her partner. The family had only been living there for 10 days.
I met with the families of these victims in Alberta, and we also met twice in Ottawa with my House of Commons colleague, MP Gerald Soroka.
If this law had been in place before these sad events, the mother and her baby might still be alive today. This bill, once passed, will put repeat sexual predators who are released under more oversight.
As you approach retirement, how do you plan to continue advocating for victims?
I wish to restore what the Liberal government undid in terms of justice and public safety. The Liberal government has repealed roughly half the laws the Conservative government passed at the request of victims between 2011 and 2015. Therefore, my first task will be to stay close to the Conservative government, if one is elected, to rebuild victims’ confidence in the justice system, which has been severely degraded since 2015.
Other than that, my door is open. I’ve been asked to return to the MMPFA. I’m also thinking of working in the media to continue to raise awareness of victims’ rights among the public and in the political world, and to continue ensuring that the voices of victims of crime are heard.
You have served on a number of Senate committees, but none as consistently as the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs. What committee work are you most proud of, and why?
I’m proud of the years from 2011 to 2015 when all MMPFA’s recommendations were implemented under Mr. Harper’s leadership.
I was fortunate to work with some outstanding senators on the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs who meant a lot to me. I’m thinking of senators Bob Runciman, George Baker, Serge Joyal, Jean-Claude Rivest and Joan Fraser. I think I almost got a law degree with these seasoned senators, who taught me a lot.
The legal affairs committee study that led to the Delaying Justice Is Denying Justice report stands out the most for me. Court delays are often caused by the criminal or the defence for a variety of reasons, such as the criminal changing lawyers.
One bill that I thought was important at the legal affairs committee was Bill C-7, on medical assistance in dying. At the time, a friend who requested medical assistance in dying because of a serious illness asked me to accompany him in his final moments, along with other mutual friends. His choice to die with dignity really made me aware of what people suffering from degenerative diseases go through, and what their families endure.
The defence committee has always been of interest to me, because I have also been a member of the Canadian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly for the past eight years. This work has been my second love in the Senate. Rubbing shoulders with parliamentarians from all 30 member countries has been such an enriching experience, politically and militarily.
I also had the great pleasure of taking part in the Arctic security study. It allowed me to go to eight communities in the Arctic for about 10 days to meet with residents, politicians, the military, police and the Rangers. I discovered a whole new world.
Every year, on June 23, the anniversary of your daughter Julie’s death, you write her a letter. What message do you have for her as you prepare to retire from the Senate?
Yes, I write her a letter every year — I haven’t missed one — because she’s the one who gave me this mission. She gave her life so that her father could take on violence against women. It has always been very emotional for me, because on a number of occasions I have read these letters in the Senate. I don’t want senators to forget.
I think I’m going to ask her, as I often do when I think of her, where she wants me to go to give meaning to her death and my struggle. I trust her, just as I trust Isabelle. Together, they’ll have no trouble choosing the best way of advocating for victims’ rights.
What are your retirement plans?
My immediate plan this year is to write the story of my 14 years in the Senate. This new book will be a sequel to my first book, Survivre à l’innommable et reprendre le pouvoir sur sa vie, written in 2007.
I’m convinced that I don’t have to make plans or find projects; life will take care of it, and I trust it.
One other thing is certain: this mission to further the rights of victims and their families and condemn violence against women is my life’s purpose.
You worked in Centre Block before it closed for rehabilitation in 2019. Do you have any fond memories of your time in that building?
Yes, I have a piece of the red carpet that covered the Senate floor! All kidding aside, I have fond memories of how easy it was to get from our offices to the Senate. We saw our staff more often. Committee members met a lot more often before meetings. There was an esprit de corps and a team culture. Even Liberal and Conservative senators spent time with each other. Those were truly great years. The new location of the Senate and its multiple groups have broken that sense of collegiality in a significant way.
Learn more about Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu in this article on SenCAPlus.