One of the stories that triggered my motivation to get involved and to try to change the law is the story of Olivia Talbot. She was only 19 years old and 7 months pregnant when she and her unborn child were slain. Her mother, Mary, a truly pro-choice woman, is an ardent supporter of C484. In fact, since the death of her daughter and anticipated grandchild, she has taken every possible opportunity to bring this issue to the attention of the public and legislators. Here is a part of her story as posted on the website of CRCVC (also copied below):
National Justice Network Update
January 2008, Volume 15, Issue 1
UNBORN VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT
When Mary Talbot’s 27-year-old daughter, Olivia, was murdered, Mary not only lost her youngest daughter, but a grandson as well. Olivia was 27-weeks pregnant at the time of her murder. A similar tragedy occurred in October in Toronto when Aysun Sesen, 7 months pregnant, was stabbed to death. Aysun’s baby, Gul, also died in the attack. The families of these victims are actively campaigning to change Canadian law in order to recognize unborn children as secondary victims of crime when their mothers are murdered.
“My grandson was murdered. The Canadian Government does not recognize this as a crime,” stated Mary Talbot in an article written about her daughter and grandson’s murder. Olivia and her unborn son were shot and killed in the foyer of her Edmonton apartment in November 2005. “Olivia and her fiancé had been together for 2 years and were excited about the future. My daughter’s joy was infectious and the whole family joined in to help with preparations and establishing a home for the three of them.... I lost a part of myself when this man gunned down my child and grandchild.”
The man was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Olivia, but no recognition was paid to the death of her unborn son. “Why shouldn't my grandson be treated with the same dignity and respect as a baby who would have lived for 2 seconds after being delivered? Why is he any less worthy?” The fact that Canadian law doesn’t recognize the death of her grandson is “a slap in the face to me, his grandmother, to all his surviving relatives who loved him and anxiously awaited his birth, and more importantly an insult to Olivia's memory.”
Conservative MP, Ken Epp, in response to the pleas of the victims’ families and concerned Canadian citizens, introduced a Private Member’s Bill on November 21, 2007, that would allow charges to be laid in the death of an unborn child if the mother is a victim of a crime. The bill is known as the Unborn Victims of Crime Act (C-484) and received its first hour of debate in the House of Commons on December 13, 2007, with the second hour of debate scheduled for February 29, with the vote at Second Reading scheduled for March 5. Further information about this bill can be found on Mr. Epp’s website, www.kenepp.com.
A new law such as this would make a difference to families whose “pregnant daughter, or wife, or sister is brutally attacked,” says Mary Talbot. “It would make a difference because those family members who survive such a heinous crime would know that they are not alone; that the rest of society recognizes just how much that baby meant to them. It would have made the world of difference to me, our family and to Olivia, if she had survived.”
The CRCVC supports the Unborn Victims of Crime Act and recognizes the importance in holding accountable those who are guilty of harming or killing an unborn child during the commission of an offence against the mother.
Copyright 1993-2008 CRCVC
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