National

Poilievre wants 'reasonable' self-defence defined in Criminal Code

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Aug, 2025 08:50 AM

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants the government to amend the Criminal Code to say that the use of force is presumed to be reasonable to defend your home is someone breaks into it.

He says if the government doesn't do this, his party will introduce a private member's bill aimed at making the change this fall during a press conference in Brampton, Ont..

This comes after a 44-year-old Lindsay, Ont. man was charged with assault in an altercation after a man with a crossbow allegedly broke into his apartment.

The alleged intruder, a 41-year-old man also from Lindsay, was airlifted to hospital in Toronto with life-threatening injuries.

The chief of the Kawartha Lakes Police Service has defended the assault charge against the victim of the alleged break-in, saying defensive action must be proportionate to the threat faced.

The Criminal Code says that someone is allowed to protect themselves in a break-in as long as force used is "reasonable in the circumstances."

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. to increase local milk production with $25-million factory investment

The British Columbia government is spending up to $25 million toward the construction of a milk production plant aimed at boosting the supply of locally sourced food products. The province says in a statement that the expansion to Vitalus Nutrition's plant in Abbotsford, B.C., will begin construction this summer and will increase local milk production by 50 per cent, to 1.4 billion litres annually.

B.C. to increase local milk production with $25-million factory investment

Trudeau announces $5B-loan guarantee program for Indigenous communities

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is offering $5 billion in loan guarantees to support Indigenous communities seeking ownership stakes in natural resource and energy projects. Trudeau says the program will help Indigenous peoples receive a fair share in Canada's economic growth.

Trudeau announces $5B-loan guarantee program for Indigenous communities

Baby lives after stroller hit and dragged by vehicle in Squamish

A baby in a stroller survived being struck and dragged for two blocks while it was lodged in the front of a vehicle in Squamish, B.C. Mounties say they received multiple calls that a vehicle had hit a pedestrian pushing a baby in the stroller at a crosswalk Monday night.

Baby lives after stroller hit and dragged by vehicle in Squamish

2 officers hurt in hit and run arrest

Police in North Vancouver says two officers were hurt last week as they tried to arrest a suspect in a hit-and-run. RCMP say they're now hoping for dash cam and surveillance footage to aid them in their investigation after a crash around 1 a-m on April 17 on the Dollarton Highway.

2 officers hurt in hit and run arrest

Police watchdog investigate death of a man in custody of Chilliwack RCMP

B-C’s police watchdog is investigating the death of a man while in the custody of Chilliwack R-C-M-P. Mounties say they were called yesterday afternoon to a report of a fight inside a vehicle sitting on a city street.

Police watchdog investigate death of a man in custody of Chilliwack RCMP

Search underway for two kayakers reported missing near Sidney, B.C., say RCMP

The Sidney/North Saanich RCMP is asking for the public's help locating two men who went missing while kayaking from D'Arcy Island to View Beach on Saturday afternoon. The RCMP say the men were in a teal blue fibreglass, two-person, tandem kayak. They are identified as Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and twenty-six-year-old Nicholas West.