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C-235 — An Act to amend the Criminal Code (increasing parole ineligibility)
Every bill summarized in plain language. Not clear enough? Ask for an explanation.
C-235
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (increasing parole ineligibility)
CPC
In progress
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BILL C-235
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (increasing parole ineligibility)
Last activity : At report stage in the House of Commons
CPC
In progress
Commons · 1st2025-09-22Commons · 2nd2026-03-24Commons · 3rdSenate · 1stSenate · 2ndSenate · 3rdRoyal assent
Sign-in required — one request per person, no anonymous requests
What it does, in plain language
- Amends the Criminal Code to target cases where the same person is convicted of abduction, sexual assault and murder involving the same victim in the same event or series of events.
- Requires a life sentence in those cases with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
- Allows the judge to extend that parole ineligibility period beyond 25 years, up to a maximum of 40 years.
- Requires the trial judge, before dismissing the jury, to ask whether it wishes to recommend how many years should be served before parole eligibility.
- Makes clear the jury is not obliged to make a recommendation, and that any recommendation only guides the judge's decision.
- Directs the judge to weigh the character of the accused, the nature of the offences, the circumstances surrounding them, and any jury recommendation.
- Lets another judge of the same court set the period if the trial judge is unable to do so.
- Gives the law the short title "Respecting Families of Murdered and Brutalized Persons Act"; introduced at first reading on September 22, 2025, by Mr. Kibble as a private member's bill.
🤖 AI-generated from the bill’s official text as introduced — may not reflect amendments adopted since.
✋ What does “challenging” mean?
Clicking “Ask for an explanation” is a citizen request for the bill's sponsor to explain it in plain language — and for us to keep an eye on it together.
An account (email) is required — one request per person, no anonymous requests. 🔥 At 1,000 requests on the same bill, a public post is made, in the hope an MP agrees to sponsor a petition to the House.
It works on any bill, including one that has already received royal assent — that is often the one people want to understand.
Votes in the Commons
Every recorded vote — who voted what, and by what margin.
On the “who voted what” detail — the House of Commons publishes each member's name for every recorded (nominal) vote (Yea / Nay / paired). The by-member breakdown above (the "+" button on each row) comes directly from that official source (ourcommons.ca), not an estimate. The party shown next to each name is taken from the current House roster; people who have since left the House appear separately under "Former members".
How to read a vote
Recorded vote
Members vote one by one and each choice is entered in the public record. That is what lets us say exactly who voted what — no interpretation.
Passed is not law
A passed vote clears ONE stage. A bill must pass both chambers and then receive royal assent before it becomes law.
Paired is not absent
In the Commons, two members from opposing sides can agree not to vote: their voices cancel out. It is neither an absence nor an abstention.
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Hi! My name is
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I'm 45, and dossiercanada.ca is your first step into democracy!
If we want people to understand politics, it has to be brought down to their level.
When I first tried to take an interest in it, on top of not knowing the jargon, bills came as two lines… and fifty PDFs. Most people would simply walk away.
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