Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault has introduced a bill that would require some domestic violence offenders to wear electronic tracking bracelets.
Guilbault told reporters Wednesday that if the bill is passed, then the government would begin testing 16 bracelets and eventually expand to using about 500 of the devices.
She says Bill 24 would make the province the seventh jurisdiction in the world to adopt such a program.
The bracelets use geolocation to trigger an alert notifying police if an offender approaches their victim, who would have to agree to carry a separate device.
Judges, the directors of provincial jails or the province's parole board could require an offender to wear a bracelet.
The bracelets would not be imposed on offenders who are required to serve their sentences in federal prisons, but Guilbault says she plans to address the issue with her federal counterpart at their next meeting.
At least 18 women were killed by their current or former partners in Quebec in 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2022.
The Canadian Press
