By Canadian Press

Poilievre wants ‘reasonable’ self-defence defined in Criminal Code

Aug 29, 2025 | 9:22 AM

OTTAWA — 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.

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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.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press