Survivor of intimate partner violence watches bill she fought for become law

In a season of political cynicism, Colette Martin witnessed what felt to her like a legislative miracle on Friday morning. 

Martin watched as Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy gave royal assent to a bill that might have spared her years of pain and trauma had it been on the books in 1997.

"It was the most incredible feeling. It's like a dream come true for me," Martin said in an interview. "It's the most beautiful experience I've ever had." 

Bill 17, the Disclosure to Protect Against Intimate Partner Violence Act, was among 24 bills passed by the Progressive Conservative government this fall and made into law on Friday.

It will give police forces the legal authority to tell someone in a relationship that their partner has a history of inflicting intimate partner violence.

"Finally it's happened," Martin said of the milestone. "It took me 25 years to get here." 

Stabbed 37 times

In 1997 Martin was almost murdered by a man she'd been in a relationship with. He stabbed her 37 times.

"My ex had a previous charge," she said. "He had broken the jaw of his ex-girlfriend, and he was from Montreal, so I had no way of knowing, and I didn't know his background.

"If this law would have been in then, I would have been able to get the information I would have needed to make an informed decision about my relationship." 

The legislation is based on a British statute known as Clare's Law, passed in 2014.

Martin was contacted by someone at the University of New Brunswick in 2021 who was interested in getting her help to lobby for a version of Clare's Law here. 

Martin, who is from Baie-Sainte-Anne, contacted her then-MLA, Progressive Conservative Jake Stewart, as well as Miramichi MLA Michelle Conroy.

She also got in touch with the women's equality branch of the government.

Soon Conroy connected her with Kris Austin, who became minister of public safety in October. He introduced the bill last month and it sped through three readings and the committee stage in 10 days. 

Murphy's royal assent Friday was the last step.

"I never thought I would get to this point," Martin said.

'Things were done today'

Conroy spoke in the legislature Friday to introduce Martin, who was upstairs in the public gallery. All MLAs gave her a standing ovation.

"I'm just absolutely, splendidly, proud of Colette, and so happy and proud to be a part of helping in any way that I did and that I could have, to make it happen," Conroy said.

"It's pretty incredible, the whole thing."

Martin said the experience was an antidote for the belief that the political system can never get anything done. "I'll tell you one thing. Things were done today." 

Royal assent for other legislation

Other legislation that got royal assent Friday, the last day before MLAs adjourned for Christmas, included bills to:

• Change the Energy and Utilities Board's formula for setting weekly fuel prices to give the board more discretion when there are price spikes.

• Put limits on rent increases that would allow a tribunal to spread hikes higher than inflation over two or three years.

• Create new rules around public-sector labour disputes, giving the government the power to use replacement workers if essential employees are absent. 

• Give the New Brunswick Museum board more authority over the design and construction of a new home for the museum in Saint John.

• Allow private clinics to perform some surgeries billed to Medicare to free up operating room time in hospitals.

Health Minister Bruce Fitch says the legislation on surgeries allows a new clinic in Bathurst to continue cataract surgeries outside the Chaleur Regional Hospital.

The Green Party has criticized the bill as an example of the creeping privatization of health care.

But Fitch told reporters the Bathurst clinic and others like it will relieve pressure on hospitals while ensuring procedures are still publicly funded.

"There's a number of proposals that are with the [regional health authorities]," he said.

"There's an opportunity to free-up space in the surgery suites and get at those wait lists and wait times for hips and knees and some of the other important operations." 

In the final Question Period of 2022, Premier Blaine Higgs suggested he'll call byelections by March or April for three vacant ridings where Liberal MLAs have retired.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt plans to run in one of them, Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore.

"After having a chance to watch this session, I am itching to get on the floor," she said.