On Friday, Pierre Poilievre said he would change Canada’s self-defence laws so that “the use of force, including lethal force, is presumed reasonable against an individual who unlawfully enters a house and poses a threat to the safety of anyone inside.” It’s a reform that would nudge the needle to favour victims, but it probably wouldn’t change much.
Right now, the law of self-defence in Canada will absolve self-defenders who reasonably believe that force or the threat of force is being made against them, and who take defensive action that is found to be “reasonable in the circumstances.” This would include break-in victims.
